The State Government has delivered on its commitment to release the Eyre Peninsula Freight Study having now secured $100 million from the Federal Government to upgrade the South Australia section of the Port Augusta to Perth corridor.
The State Government has identified has identified that a package of road upgrades as the best option to cater for future freight movements in the region.
Importantly, $25.6 million of the $100 million package will be allocated to upgrading roads across the lower Eyre Peninsula region.
Road upgrades across the Eyre Peninsula could include:
- Overtaking lanes;
- Road widening and shoulder sealing; and,
- Road safety improvements.
“Earlier this year, GWA and Viterra concluded that rail operations on the Eyre Peninsula were no longer viable,” said Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government Stephan Knoll.
“That’s why the Marshall Government moved swiftly to successfully negotiate a $100 million funding package for the Eyre Peninsula region to upgrade roads.
“This will ensure the road network is able to cater for the additional road freight movements we will see as a result of GWA and Viterra’s decision to no longer utilise the rail network.
“It’s important to remember that 60 to 70 per cent of grain is currently hauled by road on the Eyre Peninsula.
“The way grain is transported around Eyre Peninsula is continuing to change with the establishment of the T-Ports facility at Lucky Bay which will start receiving grain for the 2019 harvest.
“There are also grain port proposals for Cape Hardy, Port Spencer and Decres Bay.
“All of these ports and proposals for future grain ports will further reduce future rail freight volumes, making the rail network even more unviable.
“The Australian Government has announced $100m funding to upgrade the South Australian section of the Port Augusta to Perth corridor and this commitment includes funding to upgrade roads on the Eyre Peninsula in response to the closure of the rail corridor.
“The package of works will focus on enhancing road safety and community amenity, particularly in and around high-traffic areas following the expected transition of freight from rail to road.
“It could involve works such as building more overtaking lanes, road widening and shoulder sealing and other road safety improvements.
“The State Government will also work closely with Eyre Peninsula councils to identify opportunities to target the roads package to improve road safety outcomes.”
Member for Flinders Peter Treloar welcomed the significant investment in road infrastructure across the Eyre Peninsula.
“The EP community will warmly welcome this massive investment in upgrading our roads,” said Mr Treloar.
“It’s great that we now have certainty about how grain will be moving across our region following the decision by GWA and Viterra to cease using the rail network because it simply wasn’t commercially viable.
“I have been working closely with Rowan Ramsey and the Minister to help secure this funding for our roads and I’m looking forward to keeping the community informed about how and when we will be upgrading these roads.”
