Transport in Adelaide - Roads

Roads

Road transport in Adelaide has historically been comparatively easier than many of the other Australian cities, with a well-defined city layout and wide multiple-lane roads from the beginning of its development. Historically, Adelaide was known as a "twenty-minute city", with commuters having been able to travel from metropolitan outskirts to the city proper in roughly twenty minutes. However, these roads are now inadequate to cope with Adelaide's growing road traffic.

In 1964 the 'M.A.T.S.' plan (Metropolitan Adelaide Transport Study) was commissioned by the S.A. Government. It examined establishing a large network of highways along Adelaide's main urban transport corridors. The plan went as far as the State Government of the day purchasing land along Adelaide's major roads, in preparation for highway construction. However, later State Governments abandoned the plan during the 1970s. The consequences of the political rejection of this plan are now being realised as increased traffic has seen travel times increase, and congestion on main thoroughfares such as South Road has become a daily reality.

Adelaide is connected to Port Wakefield Road and the Sturt Highway in the north, and the South Eastern Freeway in the South East. The Southern Expressway acts as a bypass for congested South Road in the southern suburbs of Adelaide. The expressway is unique for changing direction according to peak flow.