<\/p>\n
One of the three new bridges will take trams above both Marion and Cross roads. (Supplied: SA government)<\/p>\n
The third bridge will replace the existing one above South Road.<\/p>\n
According to the Department for Infrastructure and Transport, that overpass \u2014 which was reportedly completed just before the 2010 election at a cost of $30 million, and later suffered structural damage<\/a> \u2014 needs to be replaced as part of the Torrens to Darlington project<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Our grid network is failing,” Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis said.<\/p>\n “Anyone who’s on Morphett Road, on Brighton Road, on South Road or Marion Road, and Cross Road, stuck at these intersections, or just on the North-South Corridor, is seeing traffic grind to a halt because we are the last capital city to operate on a grid network.<\/p>\n “We need to operate on a non-stop corridor network.”<\/p>\n How will drivers be impacted?<\/p>\n While works are carried out, speed and other traffic restrictions will be in effect.<\/p>\n Roads will be closed at various times, and “detours will also be implemented as necessary throughout the construction program”, the department’s website states.<\/p>\n A large section of concrete on the existing South Road overpass suffered damage in early 2017. (ABC News: Malcolm Sutton)<\/p>\n The government said, when complete, the works would make the transport system run “a lot more smoothly”.<\/p>\n It said that, at Marion Road and Cross Road, approximately 50,000 vehicles a day were delayed by boom gates that “impact traffic flow for up to 20 minutes each hour” during peak times.<\/p>\n “I can’t honestly tell you that my community isn’t just a bit sad about the fact we’re going to be losing our trams for the next six months,” said government MP Jayne Stinson.<\/p>\n “[But] there will be a little bit of pain for a lot of gain.”<\/p>\n What about tram users?<\/p>\n The tramline will be closed between Adelaide’s CBD and Glenelg until late January, when services are expected to resume “in time for the return of school”, the government said.<\/p>\n Over the next few months, trams will continue to operate between South Terrace, in the city, and the Entertainment Centre and Botanic Garden.<\/p>\n Substitute buses will operate along Anzac Highway and between Moseley Square at Glenelg and Victoria Square in the city.<\/p>\n Trams will continue operating in the city to the Entertainment Centre and Botanic Garden, but not to Glenelg. (ABC News: Malcolm Sutton)<\/p>\n The transport minister said the substitute timetable would “mirror” as closely as possible the tram schedule.<\/p>\n “Extra buses are being put into the fleet,” he said.<\/p>\n “People who catch the tram who live along the corridor might not want to catch a bus but we’re putting everything in place that we possibly can.”<\/p>\n Mr Koutsantonis said the substitute service trips should not take “that much longer”.<\/p>\n “But look \u2014 you’re never going to beat a tram,” he said.<\/p>\n “The reason fixed rail is so popular with people is that they don’t have to be waiting at intersections.”<\/p>\n What about businesses?<\/p>\n Traders along Jetty Road at Glenelg are facing a double whammy: the line closure is overlapping with works along the major shopping strip.<\/p>\n “It brings customers, the tram, and closing a road down \u2026 just doesn’t seem to make, really, sense,” said local shop worker Arshia Ghayem.<\/p>\n “We could do, like, two months maybe but six months they said it’s going to be for the tram, which is going to be pretty hectic, having that financial period of reduced customer travel.”<\/p>\n Opposition MP Stephen Patterson, whose electorate includes Glenelg, said there was “real concern” among local businesses.<\/p>\n “The tram \u2026 is really a vital artery for economic activity here in Glenelg,” he said.<\/p>\n “There absolutely needs to be financial support for these businesses \u2014 in terms of really marketing, and telling the wider community, that Jetty Road is open for business.”<\/p>\n Glenelg trader Melanie Tomblin expects foot traffic to remain steady. (ABC News)<\/p>\n Mr Koutsantonis said traders had “been hit by a perfect storm”, but said they would ultimately benefit.<\/p>\n “We’re spending $870 million to make sure that that tram network can get people there faster, so in the end it’ll be a very good outcome for the traders,” he said.<\/p>\n Local business operator Melanie Tomblin is not preparing for a significant adverse impact.<\/p>\n “We have a lot of tourists that come down on the tram,” she said.<\/p>\n “But Glenelg’s fairly accessible. I feel like there are other ways to get down to Glenelg, it’s just the tram is so iconic.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Adelaide’s Glenelg tramline has been closed to allow for major upgrade works, including construction of three new overpasses.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,12305,99,36574,36569,36570,36566,10413,44,36571,36572,36575,27853,9493,36568,36573,36565,36567,6624],"class_list":["post-41551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bridges","tag-business","tag-commuters","tag-crossing","tag-crossings","tag-glenelg","tag-level","tag-news","tag-overpass","tag-overpasses","tag-passengers","tag-rail","tag-road","tag-roads","tag-tom-koutsantonis","tag-tram","tag-tramline","tag-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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