Frequently Asked Questions

As part of the State Government’s election commitments, we are undertaking the Northern Suburbs Local Roads upgrades. This initiative involves planning, designing and constructing upgrades to improve access to and from the local roads and improved access for vehicles to travel north from Salisbury Heights. The project locations include the junction of Main North Road and Target Hill Road and The Grove Way junctions with Canterbury Drive and Green Valley Drive.

The Main North Road and Target Hill Road junction upgrade aim to improve access and safety at this location. Due to current right turn restrictions from Target Hill Road onto Main North Road, motorists are required to turn left at the junction and perform a U-turn at the Main North Road and The Grove Way intersection, adding approximately 1.6 kilometres to their journey.

The Grove Way and Canterbury Drive junction upgrade aims to improve access exiting Canterbury Drive onto The Grove Way. Currently, drivers turning from Canterbury Drive onto The Grove Way experience delays which can result in frustration and unsafe driver behaviour.

The Grove Way and Green Valley Drive junction upgrade aims to improve access onto The Grove Way. Due to the current configuration of the intersection, vehicles turning right from Green Valley Drive onto The Grove Way experience delays which can create congestion and result in unsafe driver behaviours.

A six-week consultation period was held in late 2022, seeking feedback from the community and key stakeholders to assist in building a comprehensive picture of how the Northern Adelaide Road network is operating.

More than 120 pieces of feedback were received regarding the Northern Suburbs local Roads projects and highlighted key areas of community concern. These included congestion, travel time and motorist and pedestrian safety.

To achieve these upgrades, some tree and vegetation removal is required. Removal of any impacted vegetation will be carefully supervised by an arborist. We will work with interested parties and local council regarding offset and re-vegetation opportunities as the project progresses.

No property acquisition will be required as the current concept design at Target Hill Road  can be accommodated by removing the on-street parking. The concept designs for both Canterbury Drive and Green Valley Drive can be accommodated by road widening using the verge on The Grove Way.

The Department’s Road Traffic Noise Guidelines provides guidance to departmental staff and consultants in addressing road traffic noise as a key part of infrastructure project development. The Guidelines set out the process to be followed and criteria to be applied when assessing the road traffic noise impacts of infrastructure projects involving new roads and/or major upgrading of existing roads.

Please be assured we will make every effort, to minimise impacts to stakeholder, residents, and local businesses as much as practically possible.

Throughout all concepts, pedestrians have been accommodated by the addition of new pedestrian refuges and pram ramps.

Additionally, the Junction of Main North Road and Target Hill Road includes the installation of a bike lane turning right onto Main North Road including a bicycle push button to active traffic lights and, a new Pedestrian Actuated Crossing across Target Hill Road at the junction as part of the upgrade.

Pedestrian Actuated Crossings (PAC) have white road markings and are controlled by traffic lights. Push buttons are provided at these crossings to activate red traffic lights to stop vehicles and allow pedestrians and cyclist to cross safely under a green pedestrian light.

A bicycle push button will also be installed on the bike lane turning right from Target Hill Road to Main North Road. This will allow cyclists to activate the traffic signals when stopped and wanting to turn right.

It is anticipated that Target Hill Road will become the preferred exit from Salisbury Heights to travel north. Vehicle use of Target Hill Road may increase by as much as 20% across the day.

The concept design does not allow right turn manoeuvres, including U-turns, from Main North Road into Target Hill Road. Allowing this would cause increased congestion on Main North Road, potentially impacting the intersection at the Grove Way and Saints Road.

Following community engagement in late 2022, we commenced a process to determine the type of upgrade required at each of the three junctions.

The first step in this process was understanding how people travel to and from the Salisbury Heights and Greenwith area. Traffic data was collected at key junctions and site observations were undertaken.

Traffic modelling was undertaken to confirm the community concerns over delays and safety turning from Green Valley Drive, Canterbury Drive, and Target Hill Road, as well as difficulty exiting the area to travel north.

This led to a range of options being considered at the three junctions, with a focus on improving access to and from the area.

Each potential option was considered based on traffic performance, safety, environment, cost, as well as other factors, which resulted in the preferred concept designs being selected.