The largest and most complex infrastructure project in South Australian history is underway in Adelaide.
Heavy machinery arrived at the Southern Precinct in Clovelly Park last week signalling the start of construction and the commencement of major works on the River Torrens to Darlington project that will create a non-stop South Road.
It’s estimated up to 550 workers will be employed at the Southern Precinct during peak construction; ten times that number – 5,500 – will be needed during the course of the $15.4 billion project, which is jointly funded by the federal and the state government with each contributing $7.7 billion each.
“The partnership between my state government and the Albanese federal government really is on show here. I am very pleased that we are getting this project done,” SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said at a press event at the site, which will see two 90 metre-long tunnel boring machines lowered 25 metres below the surface to start tunnelling in the second half of 2026.
“I cannot possibly overstate the size and the complexity of this $15.4 billion project,” added Malinauskas. “This is one of the biggest engineering undertakings that’s not just occurred in the history of our state but indeed the nation. This is the biggest infrastructure project in Australia right now.”
I cannot overstate the size and the complexity of this project
Slated for completion in 2031, the South Road project marks the final stretch of the North-South Corridor – a 78km non-stop, traffic light-free motorway.
Once South Road is open to traffic, motorists will be able to bypass 21 sets of lights through four sets of tunnels between the River Torrens and Darlington, saving up to 40 minutes of peak-hour travel time on one of Adelaide’s most important arterial roads.
“Forty minutes – that’s a big number,” Malinauskas said. “And when you add that up for every single working family, every single day of the week, it means hours and hours of people’s lives that are returned to a better standard of living, which is exactly why this project requires urgency.”
But the legacy of the project will not just be a faster commute for tens of thousands of motorists, Malinauskas added, “It’ll actually be changing the economic dynamic of the way our city operates, which is exactly why this is worth it in the long run.”
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