Port River Expressway is a 5.7-kilometre (3.5 mi) freeway-grade road. The expressway links Port Adelaide and the Lefevre Peninsula across the north-western suburbs of Adelaide to major interstate routes via North-South Motorway.
Port River Expressway | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Coordinates | |
| General information | |
| Type | Freeway |
| Location | Adelaide |
| Length | 5.7 km (3.5 mi)[1] |
| Opened |
|
| Built by |
|
| Maintained by | Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure |
| Route number(s) |  A9 (2005–present) |
| Major junctions | |
| West end |  Victoria RoadBirkenhead, Adelaide |
| |
| East end | Salisbury Highway Wingfield, Adelaide |
| Location(s) | |
| Region | Western Adelaide[2] |
| Major suburbs | Port Adelaide, Gillman |
| Highway system | |
The expressway is grade-separated at the North-South Motorway, Hanson Road and Eastern Parade interchanges. The next two intersections are at grade with traffic signals installed. This has led to the route being labelled as the A9, instead of the more common M label associated with freeways and expressways in South Australia.
Construction
editThe Port River Expressway was built in three stages:
- Stage 1 – Was opened for traffic in July 2005. It consists of a 5.5-kilometre (3.4 mi) four-lane expressway link between Francis Street and the then South Road, Adelaide, now the North-South Motorway; with an overpass at each of the junctions of the North-South Motorway, Hanson Road and Eastern Parade.[3]
- Stage 2 – Consists of a four lane high-level, opening road bridge across the Port River between Docks 1 and 2, linking Stage 1 at Francis Street to Victoria Road on Le Fevre Peninsula. This section opened in August 2008.[4]
- Stage 3 – Consists of a single track, dual gauge, high-level, opening rail bridge across the Port River, north of the road bridge, with connections to the existing rail system. Opened in June 2008.[5]
Stage 1 connected at what had previously been a bend between extensions of South Road and Salisbury Highway, both of which had been extended in the early 1990s to meet each other. The original plan had been to install traffic lights at that intersection. Instead, an overpass was constructed with a loop through the Barker Inlet wetlands to provide a non-stop interchange.[6]
The bridge for traffic travelling north on South Road to east on Salisbury Highway and east on Port River Expressway to south on South Road, was named the Craig Gilbert Bridge, after the lead designer of the overpass, who died of cancer before it opened. The bridge was opened and named in his honour in July 2005.[6] It was demolished in May 2019 and replaced with a new Craig Gilbert Bridge, as part of the construction of the Northern Connector on the North–South Motorway, which included new wider bridges on a slightly more westerly alignment.[7]
The Port River Expressway is now a major thoroughfare for freight and passenger road traffic travelling from the northern suburbs to the major port facilities of South Australia in Port Adelaide and Outer Harbor. The construction of Stages 2 and 3 was carried out by Abigroup.[8]
During 2018, 2019 and 2020, construction workers were putting up new elements on the expressway, as part of the Northern Connector project of the North–South Motorway.
Cycling
editAs there is no parallel shared path near most of the Expressway and Salisbury Highway west of Port Wakefield Road, cycling is permitted on the road.[9][10] The bridge over the Port River includes a shared path on the southern side of the road.[11]
At the time of designing Stage 1 of the Expressway, the developers did not imagine that there would be much requirement for people to cycle along it, as Mawson Lakes had not been developed for housing yet, so the Port River Expressway was seen as only connecting industries to other industries.[12]
Exits and interchanges
editPort River Expressway is entirely contained within the City of Port Adelaide Enfield local government area.[13]
| Location[1][14] | km[1] | mi | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birkenhead | 0.0 | 0.0 | Victoria Road (A16 north) – Osborne, Outer Harbor | Western terminus of expressway and route A9 | |
| Nelson Street (A16 south) – Port Adelaide | |||||
| Port River | 0.5 | 0.31 | Tom 'Diver' Derrick Bridge | ||
| Port Adelaide | 0.9 | 0.56 | Dry Creek–Port Adelaide railway line | ||
| 1.0 | 0.62 | Perkins Drive – Port Adelaide | Traffic light intersection | ||
| Port Adelaide–Gillman boundary | 1.7 | 1.1 | Eastern Parade – Ottoway | ||
| Dry Creek–Wingfield boundary | 4.0 | 2.5 | Hanson Road – Wingfield | ||
| 5.5 | 3.4 |  North-South Motorway (M2) – Waterloo Corner, Regency Park, Hindmarsh | |||
| Salisbury Highway (A9) – Salisbury | Eastern terminus of expressway, route A9 continues east along Salisbury Highway | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||
Gallery
edit-
The Port River Expressway approaching the Craig Gilbert Bridge and South Road exit from the west, before the North-South Motorway bridges were built -
The Port River Expressway approaching the Eastern Parade overpass heading east -
The Tom 'Diver' Derrick Bridge over the Port River. -
The Mary MacKillop Bridge, adjacent to the Tom "Diver" Derrick road bridge -
Looking west at Craig Gilbert Bridge carrying South Road, before the North-South Motorway construction
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ a b c "Port River Expressway" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- ^ "Location SA Map viewer with regional layers". Government of South Australia. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- ^ "Stage 1 of the Port River Expressway". South Australian Department of Transport, Energy and Infrastructure. 24 February 2006. Archived from the original on 25 August 2006. Retrieved 4 February 2007.
- ^ "Stage 2 of the Port River Expressway". South Australian Department of Transport, Energy and Infrastructure. 17 August 2007. Archived from the original on 21 December 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2008.
- ^ "Stage 3 of the Port River Expressway". South Australian Department of Transport, Energy and Infrastructure. 17 August 2007. Archived from the original on 21 December 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
- ^ a b "Craig Gilbert Bridge retains dedication". Tonkin. Archived from the original on 29 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- ^ "Port River Expressway weekend closure and detours, 24-27May" (PDF). Northern Connector Project. Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure. May 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
This closure will allow for the demolition of the Craig Gilbert Bridge over PREXY as part of the construction of the Southern Interchange.
- ^ "Port River Expressway, Adelaide, Australia". Retrieved 27 November 2011.
- ^ "Port River Expressway cycle path detour". Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, Government of South Australia. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
- ^ "Port River Expressway cycle path detour Opening – 12 noon Saturday 2 September 2017". Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, Government of South Australia. September 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
- ^ "Port River Expressway" (PDF). Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure. October 2005. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
- ^ "Port River Expressway Environmental Report Supplement" (PDF). Department of Transport, Environment and Infrastructure, Government of South Australia. July 2001. pp. 58–59. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
The Port River Expressway lies in a corridor that links predominantly industrial areas to industries in the Outer Harbor area (its principal purpose being to link national roads with the industrial areas of Wingfield, Enfield and Gillman). This means that bicycle paths provided in the shoulders of the Port River Expressway are not likely to be used primarily for commuting.
- ^ "Location SA Map viewer with LGA layers". Government of South Australia. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- ^ "Location SA Map viewer with suburb layers". Government of South Australia. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
External links
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