Both the Australian and South Australian Governments are injecting additional funding to ensure the delivery of the South Eastern Freeway Upgrade.
Through the 2024-25 Budget, the Albanese Government is committing an additional $100 million towards the project and the State Government is matching this significant investment.
This brings the total funding from the Australian Government to $220 million and $130 million for the South Australian Government.
“The Freeway is a key corridor for cars and trucks between Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills.
“The $100 million commitment from the Federal Government towards safety improvements, matched with State funds, will help manage incidents on the Freeway and maintain traffic flow when accidents do occur,” SA Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Tom Koutsantonis said.
“Many of my constituents have raised with me concerns around safety along the South Eastern Freeway, whether they live close by or use it regularly. This is a welcome announcement for Boothby,” Member for Boothby Louise Miller-Frost said.
The South Eastern Freeway Upgrade involves works on the Heysen Tunnels, which is already underway, and the extension of the Managed Motorway System that will help improve travel time reliability and incident response.
The works also include the installation of an Intelligent Transport System for lane-use management, variable speed limit signs, and median barrier gates that will enable traffic contra-flow in case of an incident.
The overall Heysen Tunnels Refit and Safety Upgrade involves:
“More than 50,000 motorists travel this section of the freeway each day, and that number is only set to grow with Adelaide Hills seeing the largest population growth in the Greater Adelaide region over the past decade.
“The Albanese Government is delivering the infrastructure our community needs, investing in projects like this one which will cater for the long-term needs of our nation.
“I thank the South Australian Government for working closely with us to ensure the delivery of this vital project,” Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King said.
Proposed Mount Barker interchange upgrade (source: SA Department for Infrastructure and Transport)
The additional funding will also get the gear going on upgrades to the Mount Barker and Verdun interchanges, which will improve access to the South Eastern Freeway and reduce traffic through Hahndorf.
Over the past 10 years, the Adelaide Hills has seen the third largest population growth in the Greater Adelaide region, particularly around Mount Barker, and upgrading the two interchanges will help cater for this growth.
The Mount Barker interchange upgrade will increase the number of lanes to three on both north and southbound while the Verdun interchange will be upgraded into a full interchange. These works will enable access to and from the South Eastern Freeway in all directions.
“The Malinauskas Government welcomes this significant funding commitment from the Albanese Government towards improving safety, access and connectivity in the Adelaide Hills and on the South Eastern Freeway.
“We’ve remained committed to delivering the upgrades to the interchanges at Verdun and Mount Barker to improve connectivity to the Freeway. The $120 million investment on those projects from the Albanese Government will enable us to get on with doing just that,” Acting South Australian Premier Susan Close said.
Proposed Verdun interchange upgrade (source: SA Department for Infrastructure and Transport)
Key features of the proposed Mount Barker interchange upgrade include:
Key features of the proposed Verdun interchange upgrade, on the other hand, include:
The Australian Government’s investment for the South Eastern Freeway is part of a more than $290 million commitment towards transport infrastructure in South Australia in the current Budget, bringing the total investment in state roads and rail projects over the next 10 years to $9.7 billion.
Source: Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government; Government of South Australia – Media Releases; Government of South Australia – Department for Infrastructure and Transport (1, 2, 3); Glam Adelaide
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