Significant milestones have been reached on two of South Australia’s most important transport infrastructure projects.
In a benchmark for the $120 million Majors Roads Interchange project, 18 South Australian-made girders have now been installed for the widening of the Majors Road bridge.
The girders, varying from 21 to 31 metres in length and eight to 14 tonnes in weight, were installed over four night shifts with the help of a 300-tonne crane.
They will allow the existing Majors Road bridge to be widened from its current two lanes to six lanes, including two through lanes and a dedicated right turn lane, onto the Southern Expressway, in each direction.
In addition to increased bridge capacity, the Majors Road Interchange project will oversee the construction of new on and off-ramps for the Southern Expressway at Majors Road.
Majors Road is a vital arterial road in the southern suburbs, carrying around 13,200 vehicles per day.
It is expected to support around 14,700 motorists during peak times by 2036.
Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Catherine King, expressed the importance of the construction.
“The Majors Road Interchange project will have significant benefits for the many thousands of people who pass through the area each day, reducing travel times and providing safer and more reliable journeys,” she said.
“It will also provide better connections to local sporting and recreational facilities, improve access for emergency services vehicles and take trucks off local streets.”
The Majors Road Interchange project is jointly funded by the Federal and State Governments with each contributing $60 million, and it is expected to be completed at the end of 2025.
Concurrently, a new interchange and realigned intersection of Aldinga Beach Road and Aldinga Road is starting to take shape, with piling works officially underway.
The interchange will see the Aldinga Beach Road and Aldinga Road junctions realigned and an underpass built at the intersection of Main South Road with the newly realigned roads.
Above the 53 piles currently under construction, the new underpass will have 12 40-tonne girders supporting a bridge deck spanning 26 metres in length and 27 metres in width.
The first permanent new asphalt section on Main South Road between Hart Road and Old Coach Road on the western side of the underpass is now open to traffic.
This section of roadway will later become the permanent northbound on and off ramps.
Stage two of the Main South Road duplication between Aldinga Beach Road and Sellicks Beach is being delivered as part of the $810.4 million Fleurieu Connections project, with the Australian Government contributing $221.6 million and the SA Government contributing $588.8 million.
This duplication also includes intersection upgrades at Hart and Colville roads, Norman and Rogers roads, Hahn and Cox roads and Sellicks Beach Road plus the installation of wide centre medians and wire rope barriers to improve safety by separating northbound and southbound traffic.
“This interchange at Aldinga is the biggest single piece of infrastructure in this second stage of the Main South Road duplication,” said SA Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Tom Koutsantonis.
“Drivers will now travel on the first new section of asphalt as work to dig out the underpass and build the bridge continues, while the interchange begins to take shape.”
In other news, the New South Wales Government’s $11.5 million investment into improving safety conditions on part of the Oxley Highway has begun.
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