About the project

The River Torrens to Darlington (T2D) Project involves constructing two separate tunnels – the Southern Tunnels and the Northern Tunnels. The tunnels will be connected by an open motorway. The motorway and the tunnels will have three lanes operating in each direction, with a combined total distance of 10.5km.

A preferred Alliance partner has been selected to deliver this important project. The consortium includes John Holland, Bouygues Construction, Arcadis Australia, Jacobs and Ventia. These companies have an extensive track record of successfully delivering major tunnelling and infrastructure projects both in Australia and around the world.

Fast facts

Status

Works underway.

Location

River Torrens to Darlington.

Jobs created

5,500 per year.

Funding

$15.4 billion from Australian and South Australian Governments.

What's happening

The Southern Tunnels:

• run between the open motorway at Darlington to just south of Anzac Highway in Glandore
• provide key connectivity to Anzac Highway
• includes about 4km of twin three-lane tunnels

The open motorway linking the tunnels:

• connect key routes such as Richmond Road and James Congdon Drive
• provide critical east-west connectivity and links to key destinations such as the airport
• will be just over 2.5km in length

The Northern Tunnels:

• run between James Congdon Drive and the existing open motorway south of Grange Road
• includes about 2.2km of twin three-lane tunnels.

Other related works

There will be $850 million worth of additional network and amenity upgrades along and around the final 10.5km section. These upgrades to the broader network will make South Road safer, easier and more attractive to live and work. This supports economic uplift for local businesses.

The works include:

• a series of projects to upgrade the broader network
• rehabilitating and resurfacing South Road
• adding off-corridor shared-use paths to improve connectivity for pedestrian and cyclists
• making amenity improvements. For example, road resurfacing, footpaths, vegetation, lighting and undergrounding of power lines
• upgrading haulage routes. This will prevent road degradation from vehicles delivering materials to and removing spoil from the site.

Learn about the broader network upgrades.

We are also rebuilding the existing tram overpass on South Road at Glandore to accommodate the T2D Project's lowered motorway. This upgrade is part of the Tram Grade Separation Projects.

Learn about the Tram Grade Separation Projects.

Timeline

Project background

Adelaide is the country's only mainland capital city without a non-stop motorway in its metropolitan area. The existing transport network is struggling to meet demand. There are more than 120,000 vehicles using South, Marion and Goodwood Roads each day.

When compared with the rest of the network, the crash rate along the T2D section of South Road is:

• 11 times higher than the Northern Expressway
• seven times higher than the Southern Expressway.

Infrastructure Australia expects daily car trips across Adelaide to increase by 26% by 2031. That's up to 6.2 million car trips each day. If we don't address this, this congestion will cost the South Australian economy more than $230 million each year in lost productivity.

The North-South Corridor is one of Adelaide’s most important transport corridors. The T2D Project will provide road users with improved access to key travel gateways, including to:

• Adelaide Airport
• the state’s maritime gateway at Port Adelaide
• the wider national highway network.

Objectives

• Be a primary contributor to the economic development of Adelaide and the state. We will achieve this by improving productivity and accessibility for small and large freight vehicle movements. This will support local and regional business.
• Improve the efficiency and reliability of all modes of travel for people moving north-south and east-west.
• Improve connectivity to the northern and southern suburbs to facilitate jobs growth in those regions.
• Create connected communities that lead to improved land use opportunities.
• Increase the capacity and connectivity of the North-South Corridor to the surrounding transport network. The aims are to better support community needs and help improve public transport services through more efficient journeys.
• Improve road safety, reducing the potential for road crashes.

Contact

Engagement Team

• DIT.Engagement@sa.gov.au
• 1300 794 880