Future Growth & Infrastructure of Adelaide

[Dissident]

Hi all

There's been talk for a long time about Adelaide; both how it got here, where it is, and where it's going. IT's been called a big town, backwater, boring.. as well as many good things.

I've read so much about urban growth, and coping with the demand for land/housing in the coming years. I've read a lot about the fact we need the infrastructure to support this.

That's all good and proper, but what I want to know is WHAT do we need. Not just that we need it.

How do you think Adelaide (and on a larger scale, South Australia) could be improved? What realistic short and long term modifications and additions should the powers that be get the ball rolling on? Transport ideas, infrastructure, zoning, or more general approaches.

I love Adelaide. I don't want Adelaide to be Melbourne, or Sydney, or the Gold Coast. I want Adelaide to be Adelaide - but a better version.

Serious discussion only, anything else will be deleted.

[Drop Bear]

I knew Government would be a start.

[Gingernuts]

I think there should be a shift to high density housing in the city centre and surrounding suburbs, and along the major arterial roads.

If we keep developing the outer suburbs the way we are we will just keep chewing up the best farmland.

Another suggestion I have heard is to develop somewhere like Tailem Bend and link it to the city via a high speed railway link. I reckon a development like this definitely has a lot of merit, but doubt anyone would actually have the balls to do it.

[The Yetti]

I think there should be a shift to high density housing in the city centre and surrounding suburbs, and along the major arterial roads.

If we keep developing the outer suburbs the way we are we will just keep chewing up the best farmland.

Another suggestion I have heard is to develop somewhere like Tailem Bend and link it to the city via a high speed railway link. I reckon a development like this definitely has a lot of merit, but doubt anyone would actually have the balls to do it.

Sort of like Monarto and the multicity Polis (spelling)
I guess we got a zoo and bugger all out of those 2 proposals.
Playford's idea of Elizabeth has seemed to have worked.

[MatteeG]

More major roads eg 3-4 lanes with speed limits > or = 80 kph which bypass the city rather than leading directly to it. We arent that sprawled yet it takes at least 2 hours to travel from say Gawler to Noarlunga

Would require major forward planning and thinking, so it is pretty much already ruled out.

[Strawb]

I miss Adelaide and I will admit the changes that are happening over there are good. Your Rail network needs to be looked at Northfield has grown no train line there anymore. West Lakes grew and the rail line to Hendon got removed before hand. To me even there should be a train to Mount Barker. Growth is good but problem for Adelaide is it can only grow from North to South. There is no more room for east to west growth. I would love Adelaide to stay the way it is, You don't need to be like Melbourne. As good as Melbourne is I still prefer Adelaide.

[maxyoz]

More major roads eg 3-4 lanes with speed limits > or = 80 kph which bypass the city rather than leading directly to it. We arent that sprawled yet it takes at least 2 hours to travel from say Gawler to Noarlunga

Would require major forward planning and thinking, so it is pretty much already ruled out.

Linking the Southern Expressway to the Port River/ Northern Expressway with a Western Parallel Expressway would be a good start.

Perth and Melbourne seem to have the right idea with roads. Up up and away.

Or, since they can get a road under Sydney Harbour, surely one from Cross Road to Grand Junction Road shouldn't be that difficult.

[White Line Fever]

As Strawb alluded to Adelaide is governed by the Hills & the beach.
We are a North South city/metro and regardless of anyones agenda we will continue to grow.

Which means the developments will be far South & North.

The further toward the city you get it becomes a bottleneck.
Therfore we need sustainable transport infrastructure for cars like a freeway extended from city to Darlington interchange and for the Northerners maybe Main North Road to NEXY needs some consistent flow.

Again the city is the heartbeat, so a sports stadium, cafes, restaurants needs to be implemented along the Torrens.

My thinking is for too long we thought of ourselves as a backwater etc and never thought big.

Now we have missed the boat (try making South Road a freeway now) and we are only going to get bigger.
Adelaide in 10 years plus will be a disaster to live in.

I'm 25 and am appalled at the decisions (or lack of) that have occurred in the last 20 years.
A one-way expressway?? Cmon.

No one can change the fact we are a capital city and are growing.
We are not a backwater.
If you do not wish to endorse this theory move to the country.

Cheers

[spell_check]

Until South Road is more freeway like, Tapleys Hill Road is the better North/South connector.

[dedja]

It all started going downhill when the Poms created Elizabeth ...

[Gingernuts]

I think people still focus on roads too much. We need to reduce our dependence on traveling by car IMO and really focus on alternative forms of transport.

[Bully]

since living in Brisbane for the past few years adelaide is way behind in roads/rail etc. Brisbane has motorways through the city with a new tunnel recently and 2 more tunnels underway through the city. Clem7 (longest tunnel in australia), Airport link and the western tunnel link to the inner city bypass. This helps traffic flow as i can drive from north of brisbane to south of brisbane in 20 minutes no stop (tolled) and no stop starting traffic, out of peak hour i mean. During peak hour it is a shambles but thats due to the way merging between motorways is planned up here this is being sorted

Adelaide needs a north south link urgently for transport and road freight. This upgrading of south road will not do. I have not seen the northern expressway but from what i have been told all it has done has taken the traffic of main north road, nothing more.
For a start, duplicate that one way road for the southern suburbs. Stupid idea whomever invented it.
How can you have half the city in adelaide (eastern suburbs) not being serviced by trains? Stupid. I think that comes down to the rich people in durak, burnside , kensington etc not wanting dirty trains ran through the suburbs.
This is the reason i believe that nothing will ever change down there, there is to many people whom think they run the world and its to hard for companies to plan and build things with all the restrictions/meetings/and complaints before things get off the ground there.


Campbell Newman the head of council up here has the attitude of this is the way it is up here and if you dont like it, theres the door. Alot of adelaides council members if they came up here they would get a rude shocck how the rest of the world works. To many politics down there which cause probems for anything to get off the ground.

[Strawb]

Gingernuts is correct with people driving too much but what can you do. A 20 minute peak and day time table on the trains isn't good enough if you could get it down to a fifteen minute timetable it would be alot better. But at the same time the planning on South road would cost the Government alot of money in buying the lands to open up the road just for an extra lane on both sides.
Bulldog the reason there is no train line on the eastern side of Adelaide is because of where Adelaide Railway station is placed. There is no room to put rails there when you have parliment and government house right behind the train station. Where the O-Bahn is would have been a train line to Modbury it never happened. The biggest loss in Adelaide was the tram network from the eastern suburbs to the city. Holding on to that would free up a few cars but the government at the time deemed it unviable I am lead to believe. In my opinion you need to extend the tram network to the airport that would help alot of people come into the city alot easier than using taxis. (I know Melbourne Airport doesn't have a train or tram. Thank you Jeffery) Also moving the interstate railway station from Keswick and putting it back at Adelaide railway station would be alot better so that people can connect to trams/busses/trains to continue on with their journey.
Whilst Adelaide is growing the governments of past and present really have put no thought into upgrading the infastructure that is already in place. Since 1987 Bridgewater, Northfield and the Wingfield trains were all dumped as part of the rail network. All these places have been growth area's. There should be a rail service to Virgina also there is not. I am not saying rail is the answer but it sure helps.

[White Line Fever]

A huge percentage of workers have to use there car to drive to work.

The roads are by far the biggest shamble.

Furthermore, we should move the Adelaide Airport out of the metro area ALA Melbourne Airport.

That land is premium real estate near the ocean, and then it would lift the restrictions of the height of developments in the city.

This issue really gets me fired up I could go on for days...

There are some 'older' residents in position of power in this city that will ruin Adelaide for generations to come.

We are a major city. Full stop. We are not a country town. We need infrastructure and NOW

[Bully]

the eastern train line can not run and follow the belair or brighton line down west terrace then take a dog leg left maybe following greenhill road past glenside and up that way? doesnt have to go up north terrace under parlimant house or government house.there is plenty diversions up here that dont for example go directly out to the eastern suburbs due to roads and houses in the way. If someone thinks about it it can be done out the eastern suburbs down there. But like i said it will never happen.

my point is there is to many ppl down there with the finger up their ar*e not wanting there little suburb being disturbed by a little drilling or road works. To many restrictions and companies which they do down there will turn away and move to eastern states for major projects. Good on the government for taking projects that are over 10million out of the councils hands. Well done for that but still look at the complaints when the clipsal 500 is on??? and thats only temp install.

and the height restrictions for the buildings in CBD down there due to the airport??? what a load of S***. Brisbanes airport is just as close to the CBD here then adelaides is to its CBD and the height restriction up here for CBD buildings is 75-80 stories. Not nothing higher then the Westpac/Santos/Statebank building which is 32 stories. ANd the flight path over the city is over the CBD here. Adelaides when it comes in over the city is on an angle to the CBD.

[Strawb]

the eastern train line can not run and follow the belair or brighton line down west terrace then take a dog leg left maybe following greenhill road past glenside and up that way? doesnt have to go up north terrace under parlimant house or government house.there is plenty diversions up here that dont for example go directly out to the eastern suburbs due to roads and houses in the way. If someone thinks about it it can be done out the eastern suburbs down there. But like i said it will never happen.

my point is there is to many ppl down there with the finger up their ar*e not wanting there little suburb being disturbed by a little drilling or road works. To many restrictions and companies which they do down there will turn away and move to eastern states for major projects. Good on the government for taking projects that are over 10million out of the councils hands. Well done for that but still look at the complaints when the clipsal 500 is on??? and thats only temp install.

Sydney managed to build the Eastern Suburbs line in the 1970s by drilling under most of the Eastern Suburbs. Adelaide could do this now because with going to Electric trains pollution would be next to nothing and they could run it under the park lands and build a few stations in Norwood, Burnside, out that way. It would work and you could by some land to build the station enterances but this will never happen. Extend the tram network out to these suburbs instead.

[Rik E Boy]

Adelaide must provide something that the rest of Australia and most of the world does not. Legalise Marijuana. I know you are going to think to yourself 'serious discussion only FFS' but think about it. It could revitalise the economy and encourage tourism to the state.

The last time South Australia led the way with bold experimentation was during the Dunstan era. During that time people moved to SA and not from it. I know this because this is exactly what my parents did.

You could regulate the weed the same way in which Alcohol and Tobacco is. In other words, drug testing to keep stoners off the road, the same 'no smoking' zones in indoor and outdoor places. Make some money and attract attention from it instead of wasting police resources on something that you just can't stop.

See if you can provide the locals with some tax relief by getting the stoners to contribute to government revenue. See if you can get the Cops to worry about ice instead. See if you can get people to come to Adelaide to enjoy a Latte and some hash in one of the new Amsterdam type Cafes.

regards,

REB

[Iron Fist]

Adelaide must provide something that the rest of Australia and most of the world does not. Legalise Marijuana. I know you are going to think to yourself 'serious discussion only FFS' but think about it. It could revitalise the economy and encourage tourism to the state.

The last time South Australia led the way with bold experimentation was during the Dunstan era. During that time people moved to SA and not from it. I know this because this is exactly what my parents did.

You could regulate the weed the same way in which Alcohol and Tobacco is. In other words, drug testing to keep stoners off the road, the same 'no smoking' zones in indoor and outdoor places. Make some money and attract attention from it instead of wasting police resources on something that you just can't stop.

See if you can provide the locals with some tax relief by getting the stoners to contribute to government revenue. See if you can get the Cops to worry about ice instead. See if you can get people to come to Adelaide to enjoy a Latte and some hash in one of the new Amsterdam type Cafes.

regards,

REB

When I read the first line I thought this was stupid.

But really REB makes a good point, people would come to adelaide just for that htus increasing our tourism.
We are known for having some of the best weed in the world illegally, why not promote it and make some money from it? Instead of the bikies making all the cash.

[Sojourner]

Public Transport needs to be upgraded, buses need more bus lanes and priority lights to make them work effectivley in peak hour.

Country rail to the Barossa Valley, Murray Bridge and Victor Harbor needs to become a reality. Suburban rail to Mt Barker with the line upgraded to electric and dual track is badly needed.

A programme to remove all suburban level crossings, look at the millions wasted on the Torrens Rd Crossing and now the Park Terrace Bowden crossing, either have been undergrounded and nothing has been acheived despite the coin spent.

The Tram should be extended to the Airport and to Marion Shopping centre using the existing rail then extending on at the closest point.

The Noarlunga Train Line needs to have a spur line built to take in residents through Trott Park, Sheidow Park and Reynella. The Noarlunga line could even be extended through to Strathalbyn and used to take the interstate trains around the hills instead of going through the hills freeing up the line for passenger trains.

A few suggestions anyway!

[White Line Fever]

Public Transport needs to be upgraded, buses need more bus lanes and priority lights to make them work effectivley in peak hour.

Country rail to the Barossa Valley, Murray Bridge and Victor Harbor needs to become a reality. Suburban rail to Mt Barker with the line upgraded to electric and dual track is badly needed.

A programme to remove all suburban level crossings, look at the millions wasted on the Torrens Rd Crossing and now the Park Terrace Bowden crossing, either have been undergrounded and nothing has been acheived despite the coin spent.

The Tram should be extended to the Airport and to Marion Shopping centre using the existing rail then extending on at the closest point.

The Noarlunga Train Line needs to have a spur line built to take in residents through Trott Park, Sheidow Park and Reynella. The Noarlunga line could even be extended through to Strathalbyn and used to take the interstate trains around the hills instead of going through the hills freeing up the line for passenger trains.

A few suggestions anyway!

Agree good points.