The Mitcham Hills T-junction where James Road meets Old Belair Road has been earmarked for an upgrade since May 2019 when the Federal Government announced $20 million to transform it into a single-lane roundabout with a bypass lane for city-bound traffic.

Major construction was scheduled to commence in late 2021 but that date was pushed back twice after the design faced significant community backlash and repeated calls for suspension amid concern over the loss of nearly 150 native trees and whether the roundabout was the best solution for the area’s peak hour traffic problem.

A side-by-side of the current intersection and the proposed roundabout project (Left photo: Greg O’Grady; right photo: DIT).

Newly-elected Member for Waite Catherine Hutchesson, who last week pulled off an upset victory to become Labor’s first-ever representative for the Hills seat, pledged in December to put the project on hold, saying “allowing further analysis will ensure the best outcome is delivered”.

“Many members of the local community have raised serious concerns about whether the roundabout will in fact risk making the intersection and traffic on James Road more dangerous rather than less,” she posted on Facebook on December 14.

“Labor in government will put the project on hold for Infrastructure SA to undertake the following analysis: Are currently planned traffic treatments in the Blackwood area likely to reduce the pressure on the intersection without the need for the roundabout?

“Are there other traffic treatments that might be more effective than a roundabout at reducing risks at the James Road/ Old Belair Road intersection?

“Is the roundabout proposal justified in risk mitigation, expenditure and impact [and] what is the full environmental impact of the roundabout as proposed?”

[solstice_jwplayer mediaid=”eh7CAie8″ caption=”A State Government video of concept designs for the Old Belair Road/James Road roundabout upgrade released in February 2021.” /]

Infrastructure SA, a pet project of the Marshall Government established in 2018, has conducted similar reviews of localised transport problems, most recently investigating the best way to provide public transport to the burgeoning population in Mount Barker.

Ahead of the election, then-Opposition leader Peter Malinauskas confirmed he would keep the independent advisory body in place if Labor won government.

Labor’s push to halt the roundabout appears to already be in motion, with the Department for Infrastructure and Transport on Monday putting its project assessment application to the Native Vegetation Council on hold.

The Council was scheduled to hold a meeting on April 4 to assess the project’s tree clearance and environmental offsets.

Endangered Grey Box Grassy Woodlands trees surround the James Road/Old Belair Road intersection (Photo: Yuri Poetzl).

Construction on the roundabout was due to begin after April 30 at the conclusion of bushfire season.

“The Native Vegetation Council wish to advise that the application from the Department for Infrastructure and Transport to assess the Old Belair Road, James Road intersection upgrade has been put on hold until further notice,” an Environment Department official told stakeholders in an email yesterday.

“The meeting scheduled for Monday 4 April 2022 is therefore cancelled until further notice.”

Conservation Council CEO Craig Wilkins “strongly” welcomed the new government’s move to pause the project.

“The area under threat has been lovingly cared for by Trees for Life volunteers for years and is highly valuable. Every possible alternative must be explored to ensure it won’t be damaged by the proposed roadworks,” he said.

“It’s great that the new Government has listened and quickly stepped in”

Initial concept designs from DIT identified 147 native trees for pruning or removal, including 42 Grey Box (Eucalyptus Microcarpa) trees the Commonwealth has listed as endangered.

Around 17,500 cars pass through the Old Belair Road/James Road intersection each day, according to a study conducted by the DIT in September 2019.

Cars can often be seen banked up on James Road at morning peak hour with commuters waiting to turn right onto Old Belair Road – the most direct route to the CBD from Belair.

There have been six crashes at the T-junction from 2016 to 2020, with three of them resulting in injuries, according to State Government road crash data.

But locals argue there are greater problems further down the hill at the roundabout between Blythewood Road and Old Belair Road which has seen 19 crashes during the same time period.

A petition which called on the State Government to pause the James Road project obtained more than 1450 signatures.