Funding Boost for South Eastern Freeway

Tuesday, 21 May 2024

The Australian Government is investing an extra $100 million through the 2024–25 Budget to ensure the delivery of the South Eastern Freeway Upgrade, with the South Australian Government matching the additional funding.

With work on the Heysen Tunnels underway, this project involves an extension of the Managed Motorway System to improve travel time reliability and incident response.

It includes the installation of an Intelligent Transport System for lane use management, variable speed limit signs, and median barrier gates to enable traffic contra-flow in the event of an incident.

The Australian Government is now contributing $220 million to this important project, while the South Australian Government has committed $130 million.

The Mount Barker and Verdun interchanges will also be upgraded thanks to last week’s Federal Budget, improving access to the South Eastern Freeway and reducing traffic through Hahndorf.

The Adelaide Hills has seen the third largest population growth in the Greater Adelaide region over the past decade, particularly around Mount Barker. These upgrades will cater for this growth, with the Mount Barker interchange increasing to three-lanes both north and southbound, and the Verdun interchange upgrading to a full interchange, enabling access to and from the South Eastern Freeway in all directions.

The Australian Government’s South Eastern Freeway investment is part of an over $290 million commitment towards transport infrastructure in South Australia in last week’s Budget, with the Government’s total investment in SA road and rail projects over the next ten years totalling $9.7 billion.

For more information on infrastructure spending in the Budget, visit https://investment.infrastructure.gov.au/about/budget-2024-25-announcements.