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No speed limit cut for trucks on SE Freeway

Lower speed limits for trucks and heavy vehicles have been ruled out as a solution to safety concerns on the South Eastern Freeway, after the latest serious crash at the freeway bottom left nine people hospitalised.

Oct 05, 2022, updated Oct 05, 2022
Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily

Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily

The State Government said that it will not be acting on a proposal to cut the freeway downtrack speed limit for heavy vehicles for 60km/h to 40kph, citing departmental modelling that doing so would “create additional safety risks”.

An industry roundtable discussion was convened in August to discuss freeway safety after  a truck collided with seven cars and a bus at the Cross Rd/ Portrush Rd intersection in July.

That discussion led to a call to reduce the speed limit for heavy vehicles to 40kph on the downtrack between Crafers and the tollgate, with trucks to remain in a dedicated left-hand lane.

But following a second industry roundtable on Wednesday morning, the government said that “modelling has shown that peak hour queuing under such a measure would block access to the existing lower arrester beds, creating intersection congestion and additional safety risks, with the increased potential for side-swipe and rear-end crashes”.

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the industry roundtable will create a ‘shortlist’ of preferred new safety options over the next couple of months and undertake feasibility assessments on each of them.

“The SE Freeway continues to vex local community and industry groups about the appropriate safety measures to put in place to make sure that any runaway truck or heavy vehicle can safely navigate the freeway without costing human life or casualties,” Koutsantonis said.

He said the second convention of the roundtable has been able to narrow down nearly 300 suggestions to improve the safety of the freeway to 25.

“We’ve asked the people at the roundtable to go away over the next five to 10 days, to add more solutions or questions to those 25 bodies of work.

“We will then do a lot more modelling and cost those 25 pieces of work and present them to the roundtable in December for a final discussion about the proposed method.”

Koutsantonis said the roundtable will continue to investigate other options, including the construction of a third arrester bed.

“The most obvious one is a third arrester bed, how would it be designed, where would it be put?”

“Another one would be realigning the intersection completely – pushing that intersection back to make sure that any runaway trucks don’t plow into parked cars in that intersection.

“We’re also looking at the signage there’s a very clear piece of evidence that people are overwhelmed.”

A government spokesperson said a variety of hi-tech solutions are also being considered.

“It is assessing how technology can be used to improve safety, including detection technologies, cameras, and communication between vehicles and infrastructure, as well as considering options to improve the effectiveness of compliance and legislation, driver and industry training, education and communication with industry.”

The roundtable’s participants include the RAA, the Australian Trucking Association, the SA Road Transport Association, the SA Freight Council, police, and more.

In September 2014, the then-Labor Government cut the downtrack maximum speed limit between Crafers and the tollgate from 100km/h to 90km/h, after two motorists died when they were hit by an out-of-control truck as they waited at the top of Cross Rd the month before.

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