Article: Bowden tunnel to cost $418 million

[colinw]

Looks like SA is getting its act together.  Proposed TOD at Bowden includes sinking the existing rail line to grade separate it from roads & a freight line, and put development over the top of the station.

Thumbs down to the journalistic spin on this proposal 'though.

Weekly Times Messenger -> click here

The busy Park Tce rail crossing at Bowden, which could be replaced by a tunnel.

A ONE kilometre tunnel and train station beneath a Bowden housing development is set to cost taxpayers $418 million.

The State Government says the project will reduce traffic on Park Tce, improve train services and be a feature of its 2200-home Bowden Urban Village project.

A spokesman for Transport Minister Pat Conlon said the works had been costed at about $418 million and would need funding from the state and federal governments to go ahead.

Department of Trade, Energy and Infrastructure head Rod Hook said the project, which had no timeframe, would be programmed after "the Commonwealth comes to the party and puts their share on the table".

Mr Hook said the tunnel would begin in the parklands about 500m southeast of Park Tce and travel under the freight line to reduce track and road congestion.

He said the tunnel would end immediately after Chief St and include an underground train station in the heart of the Bowden development.

"If we get the Commonwealth funds ... there's no point in bringing the Outer Harbor line half way up to Park Tce," Mr Hook said.

"You might as well take it under Park Tce to take the crossing out and if you're going under Park Tce, you might as well stay down and build the Bowden Station underground.

"It takes the delays associated with the level crossing out."

The State Government will develop the Bowden Urban Village, planned for the former Clipsal and Origin Energy sites between Chief St and Park Tce, over the next 10-12 years, with shops, offices and 2400 homes.

It is the first of 14 transit oriented developments (TODs) planned across Adelaide, with some residents expected to move in by early 2013.

The $418 million pricetag on the works dwarfs the $264 million the government plans to spend on the TOD over the next decade. Mr Hook said tunnelling the passenger line through the 16 ha site would improve the development's appearance.

He said separating the passenger and freight lines was already on Infrastructure Australia's National Priority List of future projects.

"It becomes entirely a matter for the Commonwealth Government as to the timing," Mr Hook said.

A spokesman for Federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese did not shed any light on when the project was likely to be funded.

"The Government has consistently said that when additional infrastructure funding becomes available in future budgets, the National Priority List will help guide our investment decisions," he said.

Mr Conlon's spokesman said works at the Bowden Urban Village could proceed for about five years before the trainline was put underground.

"In the unlikely event that no Federal funding is secured in that timeframe, the LMC (Land Management Corporation) is confident they will be able to adjust the planning for future stages of the Bowden Urban Village," the spokesman said.

WHAT YOU COULD DO WITH $418 MILLION

Fund council-run services at The Parks Community Centre for 174 years ($2.4 million)

Upgrade and electrify the Outer Harbor train line twice ($200m)

Build four State Aquatic Centres ($100m)

Reinstate Keith Hospital's axed funding for 1152 years ($363,000 per year)

Build half a South Rd Superway ($812m)

Carry out 3/4 of a major overhaul to Adelaide Oval ($535m)

Extend the tramline from North Tce in the city to the Entertainment Centre, four times ($106.9 million)

[#Metro]

You have to wonder why these are so expensive.

Though, at $465 million for ONE km of busway tunnel at Buranda, busway is still out in front