Stuart Highway Freight Highway Upgrade Program

The Nationwide Freight Highway Upgrade Program is an Australian Government initiative that is being funded in partnership with the South Australian Government to improve the safety and reliability of national freight routes. This includes priority upgrades to the Stuart Highway, Augusta Highway and Dukes Highway.

The program aims to:

• improve access and efficiency of freight and supply chain movements;
• improve safety for all road users; and
• improve the resilience of the road network to deal with future natural disaster events.

The Stuart Highway is an important link between Adelaide and the Northern Territory. It has one lane in each direction, with a current speed limit of 110 kilometres per hour. It is approved for up to Performance Based Standards Level 4A vehicles (up to 53.5 metre length vehicles).

The Department for Infrastructure and Planning will conduct a heavy vehicle route assessment on the Stuart Highway, between Pimba and Port Augusta to identify current road conditions and opportunities for freight efficiencies and road safety improvements. The inclusion of roadside barriers and overtaking lanes will be taken into consideration. As a result of this assessment, we will make a series of recommendations for future funding and delivery.

Additionally, the Department will work in collaboration with the freight industry to better understand its needs. As a part of this project, we will be undertaking an assessment of public and private rest areas on the Stuart Highway between Port Augusta and the South Australia and Northern Territory borders. This assessment aims to identify the current condition of rest areas and opportunities for improvement.