Plans to duplicate a major national highway needs to start now, the South Australian Freight Council says, but the State Government has provided little detail on the major project's future.
The Sturt Highway is an almost 1,000-kilometre stretch of road linking New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
It has long been discussed in South Australia that a duplication of the highway within the state would enhance road safety, but the major project did not receive any funding in last week's Federal Budget.
The SA Freight Council said it was not surprised the project missed out, as significant and crucial planning and business case work had not yet started.
Executive officer Evan Knapp said the duplication should be undertaken in stages with the estimated cost around $1.2 billion "in the first instance".
"We'd like to see the section from Greenock to Truro and the section from Barmera to Paringa both duplicated in the sort of four to nine-year period, and that means that planning needs to start now," he said.
"Both of those sections have high vehicle per day numbers that already justifies duplication. We'd like to see the process that does take many years start now."
'Work is being done'
The SA Government announced a $87.5 million upgrade to the Sturt Highway from Gawler to Renmark in its 2019–20 budget, with an 80 per cent funding contribution from the Commonwealth.
The money was to be used for shoulder sealing, road safety improvements, and overtaking lanes.
Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Corey Wingard spruiked this investment but could not comment on any specific planning for further works on the duplication project.
"Work is being done in that [planning] space all the time," he said.
"The Sturt Highway is part of the roads of strategic importance and we are partnering with the Federal Government to be doing that work.
"There's some $87 million being invested there to improve that road. So, I think people will be seeing significant improvements over the coming years."
