“Labor in government will put the project on hold for Infrastructure SA to undertake the following analysis: Are currently planned traffic treatments in the Blackwood area likely to reduce the pressure on the intersection without the need for the roundabout?
“Are there other traffic treatments that might be more effective than a roundabout at reducing risks at the James Road/ Old Belair Road intersection?
“Is the roundabout proposal justified in risk mitigation, expenditure and impact [and] what is the full environmental impact of the roundabout as proposed?”
Infrastructure SA, a pet project of the Marshall Government established in 2018, has conducted similar reviews of localised transport problems, most recently investigating the best way to provide public transport to the burgeoning population in Mount Barker.
Ahead of the election, then-Opposition leader Peter Malinauskas confirmed he would keep the independent advisory body in place if Labor won government.
Labor’s push to halt the roundabout appears to already be in motion, with the Department for Infrastructure and Transport on Monday putting its project xjmtzywassessment application to the Native Vegetation Council on hold.
The Council was scheduled to hold a meeting on April 4 to assess the project’s tree clearance and environmental offsets.
Endangered Grey Box Grassy Woodlands trees surround the James Road/Old Belair Road intersection (Photo: Yuri Poetzl).
Construction on the roundabout was due to begin after April 30 at the conclusion of bushfire season.
“The Native Vegetation Council wish to advise that the application from the Department for Infrastructure and Transport to assess the Old Belair Road, James Road intersection upgrade has been put on hold until further notice,” an Environment Department official told stakeholders in an email yesterday.
