A raft of South Australian road projects are on the chopping block after the federal government scrapped its commitment to fund the upgrades, but the state’s marquee North-South Corridor tunnel has been spared the axe.
Two major congestion-busting investments in the Adelaide Hills, the Truro bypass project and the Hahndorf township improvements and access upgrade, had their funding scrapped on Thursday.
Funding for the Main South Rd upgrade between Myponga and Cape Jervis, the Old Belair Rd upgrade at Mitcham and the upgrade of the Onkaparinga Valley Rd and Tiers Rd intersection at Nairne has also been cut.
A federal government review of the nation’s infrastructure pipeline found the projects “do not demonstrate merit, lack any national strategic rationale, and do not meet the Australian government’s national investment priorities”.
“In many cases these projects are also at high risk of further cost pressures and/or delays,” the report said.
The Commonwealth will sink an extra $2.7 billion into the North-South Corridor, the cost of which has blown out to more than $15 billion.
The project, which involves the construction of a 10.5km tunnel from Torrens to Darlington, will continue to be funded on a 50:50 basis between the state and federal governments.
“We don’t want to see any projects cut,” South Australia Infrastructure Minister Tom Koutsantonis told ABC Radio ahead of the announcement.
“We’ve done a lot of work on these projects and we want to see those projects delivered, but if we lose our funding partner, those projects are at risk.”
Opposition Leader David Speirs welcomed the increased funding for the North-South Corridor, but said the cuts had a disproportionate impact on regional SA.
A report released by the state’s auditor-general on Tuesday found budget overruns and rising interest costs incurred by South Australia’s infrastructure program threatened the government’s fiscal capacity and ability to deliver services.
Source: AAP
