User:Yeti Hunter/South Eastern Freeway
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- For the Victorian freeway, formerly of the same name, see Monash Freeway.
The South Eastern Freeway is a freeway in South Australia linking Adelaide to the Princes Highway near Murray Bridge.[1] It is a part of the National Highway network linking Adelaide to Melbourne. As the first freeway in South Australia — and still the longest — it is frequently referred to by South Australians simply as "The Freeway". It was extensively upgraded in the year 2000. This new part of the road is technically referred to as the Adelaide-Crafers Highway, yet both sections have been designated Princes Highway M1 since 2000.[2]
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[edit] Adelaide-Crafers Highway
| Adelaide-Crafers Highway | |
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| Length | 10 kilometres |
| General direction: | West-East |
| From: | Glen Osmond, Adelaide |
| To: | Crafers, Adelaide |
| Towns along highway: | Mt. Osmond |
The Adelaide-Crafers Highway is the section of road linking the city of Adelaide with the South Eastern Freeway at Crafers. Adelaideans refer to the start of the freeway as the "Toll Gate", as the historic toll-house of Mt Barker Road still stands in the median strip of the new freeway. The Adelaide-Crafers Highway is almost entirely a steep grade ascending the Adelaide Hills, hence outbound lanes are referred to as the "up-track", and the inbound lanes as the "down-track". It was the largest road project ever undertaken by South Australia, costing a total of A$151 million, which was wholly funded by the Australian Federal Government. The freeway incorporates twin-tube tunnels, known as the Heysen Tunnels, 900m in length. They are the first of their kind on the National Highway.
The Adelaide-Crafers Highway came as a much-needed upgrade and replacement to Mount Barker Road, which ascended the Adelaide Hills along a much more contoured route, making it dangerous and slow. The notorious Devils Elbow was the site of many accidents. Mount Barker Road could not support high traffic volume, as most of it was windy and 2-laned. On May 16th, 1995, Prime Minister Paul Keating announced the construction of the new freeway. Construction was completed early 2000 and on the 5th of May 2000 Prime Minister John Howard opened the new road.
The freeway features 6 lanes of traffic, three on each side, arrester beds, concrete median barriers, street lighting through all 10 km and above all, a shorter and easier route through the hills.
[edit] History
The South Eastern Freeway originally commenced east of Eagle On The Hill, a well-known Adelaide landmark township consisting of a lookout, hotel and three petrol stations. The remaining portion of the link to metropolitan Adelaide, known as Mount Barker Road, had not been upgraded. Although a dual carriageway, its alignment followed the original Mount Barker Road, constructed in the early 1960s. This 5 km section comprised hairpins, switchbacks and the notorious Devils Elbow which resulted in countless overturned semi-trailers. This section of road was a blight on the freeway itself; the freeway commenced several kilometres from the city and the arterial roads leading to the freeway were a constant cause of congestion and accidents.
Several proposals to upgrade Mount Barker Road to freeway status were developed in the 1980s, but funding difficulties saw these shelved. The most favoured proposal was resurrected in 1995; funding was obtained and construction of the Adelaide-Crafers Freeway commenced in 1997. The Heysen Tunnels, named after well-known South Australian artist and benefactor Hans Heysen, were completed in 1998 and bypass the steep, twisty gradient of Mount Barker Road. The freeway extension project was a substantial undertaking for a relatively small city and State, given the extensive bypass and temporary roadworks that were required, as the upgraded freeway replaced large sections of the existing Mount Barker Road.
[edit] Road safety
Shortly after the Adelaide-Crafers Freeway opened, several incidents involving semi-trailers drew media attention to the road: particularly after a high-profile media identity was involved in a near-fatal accident with a semi-trailer [citation needed]. The previous Mount Barker Road was a notorious stretch but its dangers were well known; the new freeway appeared to be much safer, and indeed was - except for the major disadvantage of its constant gradient. Heavy vehicles with inadequate braking found it hard to slow down once they had exceeded a certain speed, due to the lack of varying gradients. It took some time, and the addition of several warning signs prior to the descent, for heavy vehicles to become familiar with the freeway's characteristics. Semi-trailers can been seen travelling as slow as 60km/h downhill. In 2005 changeable electronic road signs were installed every 200 metres, so that the speed limit of the road can be adjusted from Transport SA headquarters in Adelaide. This has both improved safety for commuters, and emergency service workers like the Country Fire Service.
A proposal to move a series of small huts containing road signs and traffic cones from the old Eagle on the Hill road to the new highway is being considered. As of March 2006 the fire services are being called to motor vehicle accidents on the highway an average of once every ten days, although many more minor accidents do occur.
Presently, the freeway begins only 4 km from the CBD and provides an efficient way of travelling to the Adelaide Hills and Murraylands regions.
[edit] South Eastern Freeway
| South Eastern Freeway | |
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| Length | 66 kilometres |
| General direction: | West-East |
| From: | Crafers, South Australia |
| To: | Murray Bridge, South Australia |
| Towns along freeway: | Bridgewater, Mt. Barker, Hahndorf, Callington |
The South Eastern Freeway technically begins at the Crafers Interchange, where the outbound carriageway changes from triple-carriageway to dual.
Prior to the initial construction of the South Eastern Freeway in the 1960s, all inbound and outbound road traffic to south-eastern South Australia and to Victoria had to travel on a two-lane highway originally built in the early part of the 20th century. With growth in Adelaide's population issues of congestion and safety mandated reconstruction. Studies began in 1962 for a freeway commencing from Crafers, that endpoint selected arguably due to the massive expenditure incurred with the precedent upgrade of the Mount Barker Road. Construction of the began in 1965 from Crafers. Eastbound traffic lanes were opened in 1967, the westbound section in 1969.
Again congestion concerns appeared in the late 1990s. The freeway had been contoured to the Adelaide Hills, giving rise to many steep turns, most notable the infamous "Devils Elbow". Accidents and toppling of semi-trailers were common. Extensive reconstruction was undetaken, including the construction of the 90 m long Heysen Tunnels. The freeway now flows directly into the Adelaide-Crafers Highway through the Heysen tunnels (bypassing Eagle on the hill), leading to Glen Osmond on the outskirts of the city. Despite the recent construction in the late 1990s no tolls are levied on motorists, preserving South Australia as a "motorist toll-free" state.
The southeastern end of the freeway terminates near Murray Bridge, at the Swanport Bridge, a two-lane 1km long bridge over the River Murray, where it joins the Princes Highway, a dual-carriageway highway to Tailem Bend. At this point Highway 1 becomes a two-laned, two-way scenic route which passes the coastal towns of South Australia and Victoria. The National Highway continues to Melbourne as the Dukes Highway (A8) from Tailem Bend to the Victorian border and beyond as Western Highway.
