Frequently Asked Questions

The Australian and South Australian Governments are jointly funding (50:50) the $120 million construction of new on/off ramps for the Southern Expressway at Majors Road. The Majors Road Interchange will provide commuters in the southern suburbs further access to the Southern Expressway, whilst providing all commuters improved access to Glenthorne National Park - Ityamaiitpinna Yarta, Sam Willoughby International BMX Facility and the Southern Soccer Facility from the Southern Expressway.

The Department for Infrastructure and Transport (the Department) has actively engaged with the Department for Environment and Water (DEW) and the Friends of Glenthorne, a local volunteer group, to improve environmental outcomes for Glenthorne National Park – Ityamaiitpinna Yarta.  As a result of this collaboration, a new plant nursery and garden area will be funded and built as part of the project. The nursery will assist with the project’s vegetation offset requirements and continue to support the Friends of Glenthorne’s conservation and re-vegetation activities into the future.

The Department will continue to liaise with DEW, Friends of Glenthorne and community throughout the project.

The proposed design of the Majors Road Interchange has no impacts to the Mountain Bike trails in O’Halloran Hill Recreational Park.

Installation of traffic signals and additional turning lanes at the junction of Majors Road and Adams Road will provide improved access to the Sam Willoughby International BMX Facility and O’Halloran Hill Recreation Park. It will also provide increased safety and capacity at the junction.

Community engagement is an important part of the process. The Department has undertaken consultation to gather early feedback from the community on what is most important to them to help inform the design development process.

Community consultation on the proposed design commenced on Sunday, 30 October 2022 and closed on Friday, 9 December 2022. During this period, information about the proposed design and opportunity to provide feedback was shared with more than 7,000 individuals via email and post. The Department met with key stakeholders along Majors Road and surrounds, held four community pop-up sessions and received around 400 online survey responses.

Key considerations in development of the proposed design included limiting the Impacts to Glenthorne National Park - Ityamaiitpinna Yarta, the O’Halloran Hill Recreation Park, reducing the need for land acquisition, environment and heritage, access to facilities, walking/cycling facilities and existing infrastructure such as water, power, and gas utilities.

The design also had to align with relevant standards and design guidelines.

As part of the detailed design process, the project team has considered a range of important factors to inform the design including:

• improving travel times and network reliability;
• improving safety for all users;
• improving economic productivity; and
• minimising impacts on local community, trees and vegetation where possible.

Every effort is made to limit the removal of vegetation along project corridors as much as possible however for a large upgrade such as this, some vegetation will be impacted. The tree and vegetation impact is limited to areas that need to be excavated to enable the project design.

As part of our commitment to minimising vegetation impacts for this project, the project continues to have no impact to Glenthorne Farm or O’Halloran Hill Recreational Park. There also continues to only be a small section of Glenthorne National Park, directly adjacent to the road corridor, that is impacted by this project. This land was previously road reserve before it was handed over following completion of the Southern Expressway. There is no impact to significant vegetation, or any other section, of the Glenthorne National Park.

12 regulated and 4 significant trees are required to be removed: * along the Majors Road corridor near the work site;

• at the corner of Adams Road, adjacent the Metropolitan Fire Service station; and
• adjacent the Southern Expressway where the new on and off ramps will be built.

The design includes improvements to pedestrian and cyclist safety by:

• constructing a new shared use path on the Southern side of Majors Road.

• The Patrick Jonker Veloway will be realigned under Majors Road

At completion, the new shared user path will be tree lined. Once the trees reach maturity, they will achieve a 50% increase in shade cover of the new shared use path.

The veloway realignment will improve the path orientation and sightlines. To enable the safe construction of the new expressway ramps, a temporary diversion of the veloway is required. This diversion will be in place from mid January 2024 and remain in place for the duration of the project.

Refer to the detour map on the project website for further information.

Project completion is expected at the end of 2025.