Tunnel vision to kickstart future-proofing of South Eastern Freeway

Monday, 20 March 2023

The Heysen Tunnels are set for an extensive refit to ensure they continue to service South Australia for decades to come.

The project addresses current tunnel elements that are at the end of their service life, to improve safety, traffic management and incident response capabilities.

Works include:

• upgrading the tunnel lighting to a new LED system;
• installing a new automated fire suppression system;
• upgrading the tunnel ventilation system;
• repairing the tunnel lining and installing monitoring equipment;
• upgrading the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) equipment, including thermal incident detection systems, new and replacement CCTV, electronic speed and messaging signage and over-height vehicle detection;
• upgrading the traffic management system to restrict access to the tunnels in the event of an emergency incident; and
• upgrading emergency communication systems, including public address, radio rebroadcast, in-tunnel signage and help phones to improve safety and network reliability.

More than 50,000 vehicles travel through the tunnels each day, around 10 per cent of which are heavy vehicles.

McConnell Dowell Constructors (Australia) Pty Ltd has been appointed as the Managing Contractor for the works and where possible, local sub-contractors and suppliers will be engaged to deliver packages of works.

The Australian and South Australian governments have jointly committed funding towards the Heysen Tunnels Refit and Safety Upgrade Project, with the Australian Government contributing $120 million and South Australian Government $30 million, as part of a broader South Eastern Freeway Upgrade, which also includes Stage 2 of the Managed Motorway Measures project.

Initial upgrades, including additional investigation works and the start of tunnel lining repairs, will kick off from Sunday, 19 March 2023, for a period of around two months.

To minimise the impacts to road users, works will be carried out at night from Sundays to Thursdays between 8pm and 6am.

The Crafers-bound tunnel will be closed during these periods, with the Adelaide-bound tunnel to accommodate traffic in both directions.

During works, speed will be restricted to 40km/h in both directions on the approach to the tunnels and through the down-track tunnel.

Traffic will return to normal operation, with usual speed limits, for both carriageways each morning from 6am.

It is not anticipated that works will be undertaken on Friday and Saturday nights, or on public holidays, however advance notice will be provided via onsite message boards, project updates and social media if this changes.

Access for emergency service vehicles and to all safety ramps will be maintained at all times during these works and there is no change to public transport services. Both tunnels will reopen if required in an emergency.

Works are expected to continue in the Crafers bound tunnel for approximately two months when the closure will switch to the Adelaide bound tunnel, and the Crafers bound tunnel will accommodate traffic in both directions, via contraflow.

These traffic arrangements are anticipated to continue throughout 2023 until the second half of 2024, with traffic alternating between the Crafers bound and Adelaide bound tunnels approximately every two months.

Advance notice of changes to traffic management will be provided via on site messaging boards, project updates and social media.