South Road

South Road Main South Road South Australia
North end South end
Coordinates	34.832856°S 138.562539°E / -34.832856; 138.562539 (North end) 35.606187°S 138.094712°E / -35.606187; 138.094712 (South end)
General information
Type	Road
Length	117 km (73 mi)
Route number(s)	A2 (2017–present) (Wingfield–Darlington) A13 (1998–present) (Darlington–Old Noarlunga) B23 (1998–present) (Old Noarlunga–Cape Jervis) Concurrencies: R1 (2017–present) (through Mile End South)
Former route number	National Highway A13 (1998–2017) (through Wingfield) A13 (1998–2017) (Wingfield–Darlington)
Major junctions
North end	Salisbury Highway Port River Expressway Wingfield, Adelaide
	Grand Junction Road Port Road Sir Donald Bradman Drive Anzac Highway Cross Road Southern Expressway Victor Harbor Road Range Road
South end	Flinders Drive Cape Jervis, South Australia
Location(s)
Region	Western Adelaide, Southern Adelaide, Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island
Major suburbs	Croydon, Mile End, Reynella, Morphett Vale, Old Noarlunga, Aldinga, Sellicks Hill, Yankalilla

South Road and its southern section as Main South Road outside of Adelaide is a major north–south conduit connecting Adelaide and the Fleurieu Peninsula, in South Australia. It is one of Adelaide's most important arterial and bypass roads. As South Road, it is designated part of route A2 within suburban Adelaide. As Main South Road, it is designated part of routes A13 and B23.

The northern part of South Road contributes the central component of the North–South Corridor, a series of road projects under construction or planning that will eventually provide a continuous expressway between Old Noarlunga and Gawler.

Route

South Road starts at the intersection of the Port River Expressway and the Salisbury Highway in Wingfield. It runs directly south, through much of Adelaide's inner western suburbs, close to the Adelaide city centre. It is complimented by, and in some instances, subsumed into the North-South Motorway. It either runs directly underneath it at ground level with the motorway above it on elevated carriageways, or straddles it on each side with the motorway lowered into a trench.

The motorway currently ends in Hindmarsh just south of the intersections with Port Road and Grange Road. South Road then becomes the main traffic route southwards.

South Road continues south through Mile End and Edwardstown until St Marys, where the Southern Expressway starts in a lowered trench. South Road straddles it on each side, until it reaches the intersection of Ayliffes and Shepherds Hill Roads at Tonsley, South Australia, where it changes name to Main South Road. It continues through Old Noarlunga (where Victor Harbor Road branches off) and runs parallel to the coastline of Gulf St Vincent. At Normanville, it is known as Willis Drive for 2 km, then continues to Cape Jervis at its southern tip.

The Southern Expressway runs roughly parallel to Main South Road for 18 km between Darlington and Noarlunga and serves to reduce traffic congestion. Main South Road and the Southern Expressway have 3 different intersections along the length of the roads.

History

The first reference to South Road was made in 1842. The South Australian Gazette referred to sheep stations near the corner of South Road and Sturt Road, in what is now Bedford Park.

South Road of today was until the 1970s known by a string of names: Shillabeer Avenue (from what was then its northern terminus at Regency Road to Torrens Road); Government Road (between Torrens and Port Roads); John Street (Port to Grange Roads); Taylors Road (between Grange and Henley Beach Roads); Fisher Terrace (Henley Beach Road to Anzac Highway), and South Road from Anzac Highway southwards.

The town of Old Reynella was bypassed in 1964. Old Noarlunga was bypassed in 1972.

The South Road Extension was built at Dry Creek in the early 1990s, connecting South Road and the Salisbury Highway, between Grand Junction Road and Port Wakefield Road. This was superseded by the Port River Expressway, which opened in 2005.

Congestion and upgrades

Main South Road approaching a junction with the Southern Expressway in 2005, with previous reversible carriageway signage before reconstruction in 2014

South Road suffers from traffic congestion due to its importance as one of Adelaide's main arterial roads and bypasses. Traffic has also increased in line with the growth and development of Adelaide's southern suburbs.

Between 1982 and 1984, an overpass was built at Emerson Crossing, taking South Road over Cross Road and the Seaford railway line. For a long time, this was the only grade separation on South Road, and one of very few in South Australia, removing congestion with Cross Road traffic and the railway line. However, increasing frequency of commuter trains results in vehicle bottlenecks that are anticipated to worsen. Queues on the exit ramps to Cross Road can extend into the through lanes on South Road. The rail crossing can be closed for up to 20 minutes in the peak hour.

In November 2005, the Royal Automobile Association (RAA) released its recommendations to the South Australian government in regards to the road network. South Road was found to be the poorest road in the state, registering a 2/10 on the RAA's scale. The recommendations given included $6 billion of funds to upgrade the roads of South Australia – with $1.5–2 billion to be spent on South Road alone. The RAA's plan for the road included a 6 km tunnel from Port Road all the way to the Anzac Highway underpass. The plan called for over/underpasses at six other major intersections and two rail crossings.

Going under the Anzac Highway Gallipoli Underpass, heading south, April 2012

In 2005, along with the decision to make a free flowing South Road, a decision was made to build an underpass for South Road to go under Anzac Highway. Named the Gallipoli Underpass in line with the ANZAC theme, construction started in 2007. The underpass opened in March 2009. To cut down on delays due to construction, an overpass was built at the same time for the Glenelg tram line just half a kilometre to the south, which opened in 2009, significantly removing delays from the area.

In August 2007, Prime Minister John Howard announced that South Road was to be included in the AusLink National Road Network, and pledged $1 billion in funding for the project between 2007 and 2020.

North–South Motorway

Main article: North–South Motorway

The North–South Motorway is an incomplete motorway intended to replace South Road as Adelaide's primary north–south roadway. Running along the same road corridor as South Road and extending further north, the motorway has been progressively constructed in stages. As of November 2020, approximately 22 km of the total 35 km length has been completed.

The first section of the motorway, known as the South Road Superway, was announced in October 2009. It is 3–4 km of elevated motorway running from the Port River Expressway to the intersection with Regency Road. The project started in 2010 and was completed in early 2014.

Following the 2013 Australian federal election, the section of South Road between Torrens Road and the River Torrens was identified and funded for an upgrade. 4 km of lowered motorway was built between the northbound and southbound lanes of South Road. The Torrens to Torrens lowered motorway started construction in 2015 and opened to traffic in 2018. The project included replacing a level crossing of the Outer Harbor railway line, with a new bridge in 2017.

The Darlington Upgrade, an extension of the Southern Expressway through Bedford Park by use of a similar lowered motorway concept, was also identified at this time. Both of these upgrades involved land acquisition to widen the road corridor, surface grade local carriage ways on the edges, and a lowered central roadway carrying the free-flow traffic below the crossing routes. The Darlington Upgrade began construction in 2016 and was opened in 2020.

An upgrade of Regency Road to Pym Street, the gap between the elevated South Road Superway and the (then) almost-completed Torrens to Torrens lowered motorway, was announced in May 2018, to be jointly funded by the state and federal governments. Main construction began in late 2019. The overpass opened at reduced speeds in March 2021.

Preliminary plans for the final section stretching from the River Torrens to Darlington, which would use a combination of deep-bored tunnels, lowered motorway and surface-level motorway, were announced in late 2020 and are still under investigation.

Major intersections

LGA	Location	km	mi	Destinations	Notes
Port Adelaide Enfield	Wingfield	0.0	0.0	Port River Expressway (A9 west) – Port Adelaide Salisbury Highway (A9 east) – Salisbury	Northern terminus of South Road
		0.7	0.43	Dry Creek-Port Adelaide railway line
		0.8	0.50	Cormack Road – Wingfield, Dry Creek
	Wingfield–Angle Park–Regency Park tripoint	1.9	1.2	Grand Junction Road (A16) – Port Adelaide, Gepps Cross, Northfield, Hope Valley
	Regency Park	2.8	1.7	Days Road – Ferryden Park
	Regency Park–Croydon Park boundary	4.8	3.0	Regency Road – Kilkenny, Sefton Park
Charles Sturt	Renown Park–Croydon–Ridleyton tripoint	6.3	3.9	Torrens Road – Rosewater, Ovingham
	Croydon–Ridleyton–Hindmarsh tripoint	7.6	4.7	Outer Harbor railway line
	Croydon–Hindmarsh–West Hindmarsh tripoint	7.8	4.8	Port Road (A7) – Port Adelaide, Woodville, Hindmarsh
	Hindmarsh–West Hindmarsh boundary	8.1	5.0	Grange Road (west) – Allenby Gardens, Grange Manton Street (east) – Hindmarsh
		8.3	5.2	North–South Motorway (M2) – Wingfield, Waterloo Corner	Northbound entry and southbound exit only Northern terminus of route A2, route M2 continues north along North-South Motorway
River Torrens		9.1	5.7	Bridge over the river (historically "Taylor's bridge")
West Torrens	Mile End–Torrensville boundary	10.4	6.5	Henley Beach Road – Fulham, Mile End
	Mile End–Mile End South–Hilton tripoint	11.3	7.0	Sir Donald Bradman Drive (A6) – Mile End South, Adelaide Airport
	Richmond–Mile End South boundary	11.9	7.4	James Congdon Drive (R1 northeast) – Thebarton Deacon Avenue (southwest) – Richmond Oval	Concurrency with route R1
	Mile End South–Keswick–Richmond–Marleston quadripoint	12.4	7.7	Richmond Road (R1) – West Richmond, Keswick
West Torrens–Unley boundary	Ashford–Kurralta Park–Everard Park–Glandore quadripoint	13.7	8.5	Anzac Highway (A5) – Keswick, Plympton, Glenelg	Diamond interchange under intersection
West Torrens–Marion–Unley tripoint	Everard Park–Black Forest–Kurralta Park–Glandore quadripoint	14.3	8.9	Glenelg tram line
Mitcham–Marion–Unley tripoint	Black Forest–Clarence Park–Clarence Gardens–Edwardstown–Glandore meeting point	15.3	9.5	Cross Road (A3) – South Plympton, Glen Osmond	Diamond interchange over intersection with railway line
				Seaford railway line (Emerson Crossing)
Mitcham–Marion boundary	Melrose Park–St Marys–Edwardstown–Clovelly Park quadripoint	18.7	11.6	Daws Road – Park Holme, Clapham
	Tonsley–St Marys boundary	20.2	12.6	Southern Expressway (M2 south) – Reynella, Old Noarlunga	Southbound entry and northbound exit only Southern terminus of route A2, route M2 continues south along Southern Expressway
	St Marys–Bedford Park–Clovelly Park tripoint	20.7	12.9	Ayliffes Road (east) – Pasadena, Goodwood Shepherds Hill Road (south) – Blackwood	No right turn northbound from Ayliffes Road westbound Northbound entry to and southbound exit from Shepherds Hill Road only Name change: South Road (north), Main South Road (southwest)
	Bedford Park–Clovelly Park boundary	21.0	13.0	Sturt Road – Brighton, Flinders University
	Bedford Park	21.4	13.3	Flinders Drive – Bedford Park, Flinders Medical Centre
		21.8	13.5	Southern Expressway (M2 north) – St Marys	Northbound entry and southbound exit only Northern terminus of route A13
Sturt River		22.0	13.7	Bridge over the river (bridge name unknown)
Marion–Onkaparinga boundary	Darlington–Bedford Park–Sturt tripoint	22.4	13.9	Marion Road (A14 north) – Brooklyn Park, Plympton, Park Holme Flagstaff Road (south) – Flagstaff Hill
	O'Halloran Hill	25.8	16.0	Majors Road – Seaview Downs
	O'Halloran Hill–Happy Valley boundary	26.1	16.2	Black Road – Flagstaff Hill
	Happy Valley–O'Halloran Hill boundary	26.5	16.5	Chandlers Hill Road – Chandlers Hill
	Happy Valley–O'Halloran Hill–Trott Park tripoint	29.2	18.1	Southern Expressway (M2 north) – Darlington, St Marys	Northbound entrance and southbound exit only
				Panalatinga Road (south) – Onkaparinga Hills
Onkaparinga	Old Reynella–Morphett Vale–Reynella tripoint	32.5	20.2	Sherriffs Road (west) – Lonsdale Pimpala Road (east) – Woodcroft
	Morphett Vale	33.9	21.1	O'Sullivan Beach Road (west) – Lonsdale Bains Road (east) – Morphett Vale
		35.0	21.7	Flaxmill Road (west) – Christie Downs Wheatsheaf Road (east) – Morphett Vale
	Morphett Vale–Hackham–Hackham West tripoint	36.2	22.5	Beach Road (west) – Noarlunga Centre Doctors Road (east) – Onkaparinga Hills
	Hackham–Hackham West–Huntfield Heights tripoint	37.2	23.1	Honeypot Road – Noarlunga Downs
	Hackham–Huntfield Heights boundary	37.4	23.2	Pennys Hill Road – Hackham
	Hackham–Huntfield Heights–Noarlunga Downs tripoint	40.0	24.9	Southern Expressway (M2 north) – Reynella, St Marys	Northbound entrance and southbound exit only
Onkaparinga River		41.4	25.7	D.V. Fleming Bridge
Onkaparinga	Old Noarlunga	42.3	26.3	Victor Harbor Road (A13) – McLaren Vale, Mount Compass, Victor Harbor	No right turn northbound into Victor Harbor Road southbound Northern terminus of route B23, route A13 continues south along Victor Harbor Road
	Maslin Beach	46.8	29.1	Maslin Beach Road (A15 west) – Maslin Beach Tatachilla Road (east) – McLaren Vale
	Aldinga	52.4	32.6	Old Coach Road – Aldinga, Maslin Beach
Yankalilla	Myponga	68	42	Pages Flat Road (B34) – Mount Compass
	Yankalilla	82	51	Inman Valley Road – Inman Valley, Victor Harbor
	Delamere	105	65	Range Road (B37) – Parawa, Victor Harbor
	Cape Jervis	117	73	Flinders Drive – Cape Jervis	Route B23 continues west over Backstairs Passage to Hog Bay Road on Kangaroo Island
Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Route transition

Tram stop

South Road is also the location of a stop on the Glenelg tram line.

Preceding station	Adelaide Metro			Following station
Black Forest towards Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide Entertainment Centre or Festival Plaza		Glenelg tram line		Glandore towards Moseley Square

Gallery

• 
  Looking south from the Cross Road Overpass, Edwardstown.
• 
  The South Road overpass at Cross Road / Emerson Station.

See also

• Highways in Australia
• List of highways in South Australia
• Metropolitan Adelaide Transport Study