[Adelaide] White cement elephant

[taliesin@chariot.net.au (Taliesin Walker)]

In the local paper Wednesday's (Gardian Messenger) there is an article
about the proposed southern O-Bahn for Adelaide. It includes a route
map.

The map shows to options. Both include ripping up the Tonsley line to
Ascot Park then running the track beside the railway to Goodwood.
After that their are two proposed options. One has the route following
the railway and entering the city via Currie St. The other has the
route turning and following the tram line entering the city via King
William St.

Only one interchange is shown around the current position of Tonsley
station. There is a direct link to the Southern Expressway.

At the railway stations the busway will go underground to allow
access.

The estimated cost is $100 Million!

I have to say I'm not impressed. Maybe this is my bias, but it seems
to me that extending the Tonsley line way out too Happy Valley would
be a better option. The planned busway has a great deal of work
required for underpasses/overpasses for roads which is unecessary in
my opinion. It duplicates the service provide by the railway for a
long distance. Surely extending the railway would be cheaper. And even
if this doesn't excite our bus mad pollies perhaps installing bus
priority on South Rd/Goodwood Rd would be better value for money.

Tali