A planned stunt and ongoing misinformation by the State Liberals have been called out by the head of the state’s peak road transport body.
The South Australian Road Transport Association’s executive director Steve Shearer told ABC Radio this week he was not hearing a widespread industry concern about the State Government’s plan to ban large semi-trailer trucks from Hahndorf’s main street.
However, he called out a stunt planned today by the Liberals, saying:
“I'd always be cautious about taking the view or perspective of a politician that goes for a quick ride in a truck, as to not being a good way of determining that a road is or is not safe. You need to get a bit more scientific than that.”
Mr Shearer emphasised that River Road and surrounding options were not only safe for trucks, but were already used as truck routes, calling claims to the contrary “a bit of a furphy”.
He told the ABC:
“The reality is River Road, and the other roads around the area, are currently used by trucks and are perfectly safe for those trucks.”
The State Government is banning large semi-trailer trucks from Hahndorf’s Main Street and spending $40 million on improvements to alternative routes such as River Road and Strathalbyn Road.
Mr Shearer said that SARTA - the peak body for road transport in the state – had not received significant industry complaints about the planned changes, and that he had personally only received a couple of phone calls seeking additional information.
He also called out extensive “misinformation” about the size and volume of trucks expected to use River Road, pointing out “there are no B-doubles” currently allowed in Hahndorf, and that of the 130-odd large semi-trailer trucks that use the Main Street each day, fewer than 80 are likely to use River Road as an alternative.
The Liberals have resorted to cheap stunts, attempting to goad politicians into taking a ride in a truck along the road.
What they haven’t done is articulated an alternative plan to solve Hahndorf’s traffic issues. Are they committing to put semi-trailer trucks back on Main Street? Or are they finally committing to a bypass option – and if so where, and at what cost?
Quotes
Attributable to Tom Koutsantonis
The Liberals’ cheap stunts have been called out for what they are – a waste of time.
Trucks already use River Road and the head of the state’s peak road transport body in our state says it is perfectly safe to do so.
This is a safe solution which ensures logs and livestock on large semi-trailer trucks aren’t clogging up one of our premier tourism precincts.
We’re making long-term improvements to River Road, but the reality is more than 70 trucks a day already use it as a thoroughfare.
Josh Teague and Vincent Tarzia need to drop the stunts and come clean about what they would do to deal with Hahndorf’s traffic issues.
Mr Teague is now pushing for large trucks to carry on using Hahndorf’s Main Street, having previously complained about them doing so.
The Liberals call for a bypass, but won’t commit to a location. They should tell the local community exactly where they intend to build, and exactly which properties they intend to acquire to do so.
