South Australia's Infrastructure Minister admits he will not be surprised if costings for the North-South Corridor blowout beyond the $9.9 billion budgeted, but says he is yet to receive revised costings.
The Labor government commissioned a project review when they came into government in MarchTom Koutsantonis refused to confirm reports that the project cost would escalate to $14 billion, but a cost increase was already foreshadowedMr Koutsantonis said the Department for Infrastructure and Transport had not advised him of cost estimates since a project review was commissioned when the Labor government came into power in March.
But he took aim at the previous government's $9.9 billion estimate, saying designs were "deliberately left out to minimise costs" before the election.Infrastructure and Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis refused to confirm how much the North-South Corridor project would cost."But if we don't do something in that section between Anzac Highway and Tonsley, the grid between Goodwood Road and Marion Road will grind to a halt.
He said choke points along South Road on Richmond Road, Anzac Highway and James Congdon Drive are "urgent and need to be fixed". The minister said reports that a cost-benefit analysis returning a ratio of less than one – meaning the costs outweigh the benefits of going ahead — was news to him. Department for Infrastructure and Transport chief executive Jon Whelan said he did not have a specific figure on the project cost or an updated cost benefit ratio at this stage.
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