South Eastern Freeway#History

South Eastern Freeway commences at the intersection with Glen Osmond Road, Cross Road and Portrush Road in Glen Osmond, and heads southeast as a six-lane, dual-carriageway route. As it traverses across – and through, in one section, via the Heysen Tunnels – the Adelaide Hills, and due the fact the freeway is a major freight route, it also features arrester beds and concrete median barriers, with street lighting between Glen Osmond and Crafers. The freeway narrows to four lanes just before it bypasses Crafers, and continues in a south-easterly direction, past Stirling, Hahndorf and Mount Barker, before narrowing further to a two-lane, single-carriageway, crossing the Murray River over the Swanport Bridge, to terminate just east of the crossing in Long Flat, south-east of Murray Bridge.

Prior to the initial construction of the freeway in the 1960s, inbound and outbound road traffic between Adelaide and south-eastern South Australia or Victoria used a two-lane highway originally built in the early part of the 20th century. With growth in Adelaide's population, issues of congestion and safety mandated reconstruction. Studies began in 1962 for a freeway commencing from Crafers, that endpoint selected arguably due to the massive expenditure required with the precedent upgrade of the Mount Barker Road.{{Clarify|date=October 2019|reason=when was Glen Osmond-Crafers upgraded from two lanes to four lanes?}}

Construction began in 1965 from Crafers. The first stage of eastbound traffic lanes were opened in 1967, and the first westbound section opened in 1969. The freeway was opened in stages as construction progressed. The final section bypassing the town of Murray Bridge and connecting to the new Swanport Bridge over the River Murray opened in 1979, providing an alternative to the historic bridge in Murray Bridge.

The Adelaide–Crafers Highway extension came as a much-needed upgrade and replacement to the previous link road, the Mount Barker Road,{{cite web |url=http://www.burnside.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=756 |title=Old and New Road Names |publisher=City of Burnside |access-date=14 July 2007 |date=8 March 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070829010319/http://www.burnside.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=756 |archive-date=29 August 2007 |df=dmy-all }} which had been contoured to the Adelaide Hills, giving rise to many steep turns, ascending a tortuous route. The tightest hairpin turn on the Mount Barker Road was infamous as the Devil's Elbow, often the site of car and semi-trailer accidents.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74321871 |title=Crash At Devil's Elbow |newspaper=The Advertiser (Adelaide) |location=South Australia |date=16 October 1936 |access-date=27 October 2019 |page=32 |via=National Library of Australia}}

On 16 May 1995, Prime Minister Paul Keating announced the construction of the new Adelaide-Crafers section. The Heysen Tunnels, named after well-known South Australian artist and benefactor Hans Heysen, were completed in 1998. Construction was completed in early 2000. In March 2000, Prime Minister John Howard opened the new road.{{cite web |title=The Adelaide Crafers Highway Project |url=http://www.transport.sa.gov.au/transport_network/projects/adel_crafers/index.asp |date=13 August 2004 |publisher=Government of South Australia, Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure |access-date=14 July 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070829201957/http://www.transport.sa.gov.au/transport_network/projects/adel_crafers/index.asp |archive-date = 29 August 2007}} It was the largest South Australian road project at that time, costing A$151 million, wholly funded by the Australian Federal Government.

File:Freeway barker.jpg

An additional exit was built at Monarto around 1999 to service an expanding commercial zone and the Monarto Zoo in the area.{{cite report |url=http://www.rdamr.org.au/fileadmin/user_upload/docs/Monarto_final_report_12_Jan_09.pdf |title=MONARTO SOUTH INTERMODAL AND LAND USE STUDY Final Report |section=Existing Land Use |page=40 |access-date=18 July 2014 |date=December 2008 |author=Jensen Planning and Design |publisher=Monarto Common Purpose Group}} Another exit was announced in 2014 at Bald Hills Road, 4 km southeast of the Mount Barker interchange to service growing housing estates in southern Mount Barker and Nairne.{{cite web |title=Bald Hills Road Interchange |url=http://www.infrastructure.sa.gov.au/road_projects/bald_hills_road_interchange |access-date=18 July 2014 |date=16 July 2014 |publisher=Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure}}{{cite news |title=Watch how the new Mt Barker freeway interchange at Balds Hill Rd will work |url=http://www.news.com.au/national/south-australia/watch-how-the-new-mt-barker-freeway-interchange-at-balds-hill-rd-will-work/story-fnii5yv4-1226990157736 |access-date=18 July 2014 |date=15 July 2014 |newspaper=The Advertiser |first=David |last=Nankervis |publisher=News Limited}} Bardavcol started construction in May 2015, with the interchange including entry and exit ramps in both directions. The $27mil project was funded with $16mil by the Federal Government, $8mil by the Government of South Australia and $3mil from the Mount Barker District Council.{{cite press release |url=http://www.jamiebriggs.com.au/manage/eweb/MayoMedia/Media/tabid/64/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1519/Joint-Media-Release-BriggsMullighan-Delivering-the-full-Bald-Hills-Road-interchange-Wednesday-1-April-2015.aspx |title=Joint Media Release - Briggs/Mullighan - Delivering the full Bald Hills Road interchange - Wednesday, 1 April 2015 |date=1 April 2015 |author=Jamie Briggs |author-link=Jamie Briggs |access-date=1 April 2015}} The new interchange opened on 15 August 2016.{{cite web |url=http://www.mountbarker.sa.gov.au/newfreewayinterchange |title=New Freeway Interchange Bald Hills Road |publisher=Mount Barker District Council |access-date=3 September 2016}}

The Freeway bypasses many towns previously along the Princes Highway, including:

{{div col|colwidth=10em}}

• Eagle On The Hill
• Crafers
• Stirling
• Aldgate
• Bridgewater
• Verdun
• Hahndorf
• Mount Barker
• Littlehampton
• Nairne
• Kanmantoo
• Callington
• Monarto
• Murray Bridge

{{div col end}}

Shortly after the Adelaide–Crafers section opened, several incidents involving semi-trailers drew media attention to the road. While the previous Mount Barker Road was a notorious stretch, its dangers were well known; the new freeway presented the new challenge of a sustained continuous gradient with traffic lights at the bottom. Heavy vehicles with inadequate braking found it hard to slow down once they had exceeded a certain speed; this was made worse with brake failures. It took some time, and the addition of several warning signs prior to the descent, for heavy vehicles to become familiar with the freeway's characteristics. Semi-trailers can be seen travelling as slow as 20–30 km/h downhill. In 2005 changeable electronic road signs were installed every 200 metres, so that the speed limit of the road can be adjusted from Transport SA headquarters in Adelaide. This has both improved safety for commuters, and emergency service workers like the Country Fire Service.

In 2010 and 2011, after more incidents involving trucks having problems successfully braking down the hill, including one going into a bus stop, and another going straight through the intersection at the bottom, the government added new laws that any vehicle with 5 axles or more must stay in the left lane and must not exceed a 60 km/h limit from the interchange at Crafers to the old tollhouse. More safety cameras were installed in an attempt to ensure trucks abide by this new limit.

Additional signs for the two arrester beds on the descent have been added, to encourage out of control drivers to use them as a safer alternative.

In August 2014, another truck descending the hills collided with cars at the intersection of Glen Osmond Road. Two people were killed.{{cite web|url=https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/24758369/horrific-south-eastern-freeway-truck-crash-claims-second-life-in-adelaide/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140822053208/https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/24758369/horrific-south-eastern-freeway-truck-crash-claims-second-life-in-adelaide/ |archive-date=2014-08-22 |url-status=dead |title=Horrific South Eastern Freeway truck crash claims second life in Adelaide|access-date=2 April 2015}} A driver of a sewage truck lost control after passing the arrestor beds. The driver was a new employee, who had never driven a manual truck before, and had never driven any vehicle on this segment of road.{{cite news |last=Dillon |first=Megan |date=December 2, 2019 |title=Cleanaway truck driver in double fatality had never driven manual before, court hears |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-03/cleanaway-prosecution-for-adelaide-se-freeway-fatal-crash/11755364 |work=ABC |location= |access-date=May 9, 2021}} Driver Darren Hicks was seriously injured and testified against employer Cleanaway at a criminal trial after being granted immunity.{{cite news |last=Dillon |first=Megan |date=December 2, 2019 |title=Cleanaway truck driver in double fatality had never driven manual before, court hears |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-03/cleanaway-prosecution-for-adelaide-se-freeway-fatal-crash/11755364 |work=ABC |location= |access-date=May 9, 2021}} The prosecution, brought by Comcare, heard that the brakes on the vehicle were defective. In 2021 Cleanaway was convicted of eight charges under health and safety legislation.{{cite news |last=Campbell |first=Claire |date=April 19, 2021 |title=Cleanaway Operations found guilty of failing to adequately train driver over 2014 freeway crash |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-19/sa-cleanaway-operations-found-guilty/100078364 |work=ABC |location= |access-date=May 9, 2021}}

The Adelaide end of South Eastern Freeway leads downhill to traffic lights at the intersection of Glen Osmond Road which continues northwest as route number A1 into the Adelaide city centre, Portrush Road north to bypass the city and towards Port Adelaide, and Cross Road which leads west towards the southern suburbs of Adelaide.

The southeastern end of the freeway, near Murray Bridge, feeds onto the Swanport Bridge, a two-lane, {{convert|1|km|mi|adj=mid|-long}} bridge over the River Murray, where it joins Princes Highway, a dual-carriageway highway to Tailem Bend. At this point, Highway 1 becomes a two-laned, two-way scenic route which passes through many coastal towns of South Australia and Victoria. The National Highway continues to Melbourne as Dukes Highway (A8) from Tailem Bend to the Victorian border and beyond as Western Highway.

{{South Eastern Freeway diagram}}

{{AUSinttop|LGA_ref={{cite web |url=https://location.sa.gov.au/viewer/?map=hybrid&x=136.19383&y=-32.61774&z=7&uids=11 |title=Location SA Map viewer with LGA layers |publisher=Government of South Australia |accessdate=16 June 2022}}|location_ref={{cite web |url=https://location.sa.gov.au/viewer/?map=hybrid&x=136.19383&y=-32.61774&z=7&uids=19 |title=Location SA Map viewer with suburb layers |publisher=Government of South Australia |accessdate=16 June 2022}}|length_ref=}}

{{SAint

|LGA=Unley–Burnside–Mitcham tripoint

|location_special={{SAcity|Myrtle Bank}}–{{SAcity|Urrbrae}}–{{SAcity|Glen Osmond}} tripoint

|type=trans

|km=0

|road={{AUshield|SA|A3}} Cross Road (A3 west){{SAcity|p=on|Plympton|Unley Park}}
{{AUshield|SA|A1}} Glen Osmond Road (A1 northwest) – Adelaide CBD, {{SAcity|Frewville}}
{{AUshield|SA|A17}} Portrush Road (A17 north){{SAcity|p=on|Northfield|Payneham|Norwood}}

|notes=Northwestern terminus of freeway and route M1
Route A1 continues northwest along Glen Osmond Road

}}

{{SAint

|LGA=Burnside–Mitcham boundary

|LGAspan=2

|location_special={{SAcity|Mount Osmond}}–{{SAcity|Leawood Gardens}} boundary

|km=2.2

|road=Mount Osmond Road{{SAcity|p=on|Mount Osmond}}

|notes=Four ramp parclo interchange}}

{{SAint

|type=incomplete

|location=Leawood Gardens

|lspan=2

|km=3.2

|road=Mount Barker Road{{SAcity|p=on|Eagle On The Hill}}, Devil's Elbow

|notes=Southeast bound exit and north-westbound entry only

}}

{{SAint

|LGA-Co=Burnside

|km=4.1

|tunnel=Heysen Tunnels northern portal

}}

{{SAint

|LGA-Co=Adelaide Hills

|LGAspan=7

|location=Crafers West

|lspan=2

|km=4.6

|tunnel=Heysen Tunnels southern portal

}}

{{SAint

|type=incomplete

|km=6.7

|road=Mount Barker Road{{SAcity|p=on|Eagle On The Hill}}, Devil's Elbow

|notes=Northwest bound exit and southeast bound entry only

}}

{{SAint

|location=Crafers

|km=8.0

|road={{AUshield|SA|B28}} Mount Lofty Summit Road (B28 north){{SAcity|p=on|Crafers}}, Mount Lofty
{{AUshield|SA|B28}} Waverley Ridge Road (B28 south){{SAcity|p=on|Belair}}

|notes=

}}

{{SAint

|location=Stirling

|km=9.2

|road={{AUshield|SA|B33}} Mount Barker Road (B33){{SAcity|p=on|Stirling|Aldgate}}

|notes=

}}

{{SAint

|location=Bridgewater

|lspan=2

|km=13.8

|road=Carey Gully Road{{SAcity|p=on|Bridgewater|Carey Gully}}

|notes=

}}

{{SAint

|km=15.1

|bridge=Adelaide–Wolseley railway line

}}

{{SAint

|location=Verdun

|type=incomplete

|km=16.9

|road={{AUshield|SA|B34}} Mount Barker Road (B34){{SAcity|p=on|Hahndorf}}
to {{AUshield|SA|B34}} Onkaparinga Valley Road (B34){{SAcity|p=on|Balhannah|Birdwood}}

|notes=Southeast bound exit and northwest bound entry only

}}

{{SAint

|LGADC=Mount Barker

|LGAspan=3

|location_special={{SAcity|Mount Barker}}–{{SAcity|Littlehampton}}–{{SAcity|Totness}} tripoint

|km=25.2

|road={{AUshield|SA|B37}} Adelaide Road (B37){{SAcity|p=on|Mount Barker|Littlehampton|Strathalbyn}}

|notes=

}}

{{SAint

|km=25.8

|location_special={{SAcity|Mount Barker}}–{{SAcity|Littlehampton}} boundary

|bridge=Victor Harbor railway line

}}

{{SAint

|location_special={{SAcity|Mount Barker}}–{{SAcity|Blakiston}}–{{SAcity|Nairne}} tripoint

|km=28.9

|road=Bald Hills Road{{SAcity|p=on|Mount Barker|Nairne}}

|notes=

}}

{{SAint

|LGARC=Murray Bridge

|LGAspan=4

|location=Callington

|km=45.5

|road=Callington Road{{SAcity|p=on|Callington|Strathalbyn}}

|notes=

}}

{{SAint

|location=Monarto South

|km=54.2

|road=Ferries McDonald Road{{SAcity|p=on|Monarto}}, Monarto Safari Park

|notes=

}}

{{SAint

|location_special={{SAcity|White Hill}}–{{SAcity|Murray Bridge}} boundary

|type=incomplete

|km=63.5

|road={{AUshield|SA|B55}} Old Princes Highway (B55){{SAcity|p=on|White Hill|Murray Bridge}}

|notes=Southeast bound exit and northwest bound entry only

}}

{{SAint

|location_special={{SAcity|Murray Bridge}}–{{SAcity|Murray Bridge South}} boundary

|km=69.2

|road={{AUshield|SA|B35}} Swanport Road (B35){{SAcity|p=on|Murray Bridge|Swanport|Wellington}}

|notes=

}}

{{Jctbridge

|river=Murray River

|km=70.6

|km2=71.6

|bridge=Swanport Bridge

}}

{{SAint

|LGARC=Murray Bridge

|LGAspan=2

|location_special={{SAcity|Long Flat}}–{{SAcity|Monteith}} boundary

|lspan=2

|km=73.1

|uspan=2

|road=Old Princes Highway{{SAcity|p=on|Murray Bridge East}}
to {{AUshield|SA|B55}} Karoonda Highway (B55){{SAcity|p=on|Loxton|Berri}}

|notes=

}}

{{SAint

|type=trans

|km=none

|road={{AUshield|SA|A1}} Princes Highway (A1){{SAcity|p=on|Tailem Bend|Pinnaroo|Bordertown|Mount Gambier}}

|notes=Southeastern terminus of freeway and route M1
Route A1 continues southeast along Princes Highway

}}

{{Jctbtm|keys=incomplete,trans|conv=no}}

Image:Heysentunnel.jpg|Eastern portal of the Heysen tunnels on the revamped freeway.

File:Adelaide–Crafers Highway 1.jpg|Driving towards Murray Bridge on former Adelaide–Crafers Highway.

File:Adelaide–Crafers Highway 2.jpg|Former Adelaide–Crafers Highway on a foggy day.

Image:SEFreewayAdelaideCrafers.jpg|Former Adelaide–Crafers Highway at Crafers.

Image:Devil's Elbow.JPG|Eagle on the Hill is directly above the tunnel entrance, with the old road winding round from Devil's Elbow.

{{Portal|Australian Roads}}

• Highway 1 (Australia)
• Highway 1 (South Australia)
• Highways in Australia
• Highways in South Australia
• Freeways in Australia
• Freeways in South Australia
• Metropolitan Adelaide Transport Study

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.ozroads.com.au/SA/New/1/PrincesM/princesM.htm Ozroads: South Eastern Freeway]

{{Road infrastructure in Adelaide}}

{{Road infrastructure in South Australia}}

Category:Highways in South Australia

Category:Roads in Adelaide

Category:Freeways and highways in Adelaide

Category:Highway 1 (Australia)