Southern Expressway

Template: Infobox several high-level roads / maintenance / AU N

States:

South Australia

The Southern Expressway is an urban motorway south of Adelaide in the south east of the Australian state of South Australia. He serves as a relief road for the Main South Road between the south-western suburbs of Bedford Park and Old Noarlunga. Depending on the time of day, the highway will each be released only in one direction. At 21 km, it is the longest street in the world with reversible direction of travel. It runs under the numbering M2.

Course

The Expressway branches in Bedford Park by the Main South Road ( A13) and parallel to the south. Just before Old Noarlunga, he meets again on the Main South Road and ends.

Operation

The Expressway is open 21 hours per day for traffic, 10.5 hours in each direction. On weekdays it is morning (2.00 clock - 12.30 clock ) northbound open, as well as on the weekends in the afternoon (14.00 clock - 0.30 clock ). To the south direction it is weekday afternoon (14.00 clock - 0.30 clock ) and on weekends morning (2.00 clock - 12.30 clock ) to navigate. At other times (0.30 clock - 2.00 to 12.30 clock clock - 14.00 clock ), it is completely closed, with the exception of Saturday morning, when the driving direction does not change. On holidays during the week is also considered the Weekend control.

The closing times are used to convert the light installations and entrance gates. In addition, the entire route is searched in this time of a towing company to vehicle parts and broken-down vehicles.

The sophisticated traffic control systems at the gantries does not always work properly and so there was always criticism of incorrect readings.

History

The Southern Expressway is part of a north-south highway connection, which was planned in 1965 completed Metropolitan Adelaide Transport Study ( MATS ) to circumvent the capital of Dry Creek in the north to Old Noarlunga in the south. The plans of the MATS proved to be unpopular and 1971, all plans for new highways in Adelaide were shifted by 10 years. 1983 rejected the plan to a highway north of Darlington and the plots that have already been acquired for this purpose, were sold by and by.

In 1984, the State Government of South Australia plans for a third main road in the south of Adelaide known. 1987 split their one project in two phases, the first phase in the expansion of Main South Road and Marion Road was in the area of ​​Darlington and the second phase of construction of a new road from Darlington to Reynella. Phase 1 was completed in 1994 with the expansion of Main South Road to eight lanes between Ayliffes Road and Seacombe Road and the widening of Marion Road to six lanes between Main South Road and Sturt Road.

From the phase 2 of the Southern Expressway was, in turn, was created in two stages: the first from Darlington to Reynella and the second from Reynella to Old Noarlunga. The road was designed as a one-way street with changing the direction of travel, with the expansion of a second direction has already been provided in the substructure. In essence, the road was built on the route of the unrealized Noarlunga Freeway.

Construction began in July 1995 and on 17 December 1997, the first phase was opened. The second phase was addressed in February 1999 and opened to traffic on September 9, 2001.

Although the Expressway is a blessing for the people of Adelaide who live considerably south of the city center, but begins only 15 km south of this city center. This fact threw together with the alternating one-way control and a number of compromises in the route is always the question of the real meaning of the new urban motorway on.

2007 promised the Howard Government a grant of AU $ 100 million for the expansion of Expressway in two directions, but was still not re-elected.

The expansion was approved in 2010 and began in 2011. Since January 2012, exists for this purpose again temporarily closed roads.

Expansion for both directions

On 17 February 2010 Prime Minister Mike Rann announced the AU $ 445 million project, which also included a AU $ 75 million expensive motorway junction in Darlington ( which was later deleted ). The deletion was justified in the planning of a large freight depot in Darlington, during which the government realized that they would have to build 50 million expensive road section an AU $, which would be torn down later in the expansion of Expressway for two directions of travel back to.

The new lanes will be fully manufactured on the west side of the road today. Between Reynella and Marion Road four lanes are created to the north. Once your construction is complete, the Expressway is always open in both directions, so that the confusion of local residents, as well as the visitors, will disappear on opening times and directions. In addition, the connections are completed, so you can be switched on and turn off at every exit in both directions.

After completion of the work of the newly designed Expressway to be opened to traffic in 2014.

Exits and junctions

Bridges and underpasses

The 15 bridges over the Expressway are from south to north:

The Expressway has five underpasses:

Private advertising channels

During construction and for some time after the opening, there were commercials about the new Expressway on its own FM radio station that the Department of Transport had set up near the new road. The station sent a recorded message in an endless loop, the advertising messages, local messages in connection with the Expressway and even a theme song included. Transport Minister Diane Laidlaw made ​​so that the Southern Expressway was the only street in the world which had its own theme song.