Victor Harbor Road

Victor Harbor Road
South Australia
General information
Type Road
Length 50 km (31 mi)
Route number(s)
Major junctions
NW end South Road, Old Noarlunga, South Australia
SE end Port Elliot Road, Victor Harbor, South Australia
Location(s)
Major suburbs Willunga, Mount Compass, Hindmarsh Valley

The Victor Harbor Road (A13) is on the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia. It runs from Main South Road at Old Noarlunga south to Victor Harbor, bypassing the towns of McLaren Vale and Willunga, and passing through Mount Compass.

Route

From Old Noarlunga the road originally ran southeast to McLaren Vale then straight south to Willunga, before climbing the Willunga Escarpment with a steep, winding narrow section called 'Willunga Hill'. In the 1970s a diversion was constructed, bypassing McLaren Vale and Willunga to the west through the McLaren Vale vineyards, and including a new 4-lane section climbing the Willunga Escarpment of the Mount Lofty Ranges. The steep winding ascent of the old road (now known as 'Old Willunga Hill' to differentiate it from the newer road) is regularly featured as part of cycling events such as the Tour Down Under due to its challenging climb. After ascending the new 'Willunga Hill', the road levels and rejoins its old route, gently descending to the town of Mount Compass. Three kilometres further is the turnoff to the Mount Compass-Goolwa road. It is then 15 mins through hilly terrain and across a short coastal plain to Victor Harbor.

Safety

Traffic on the road has increased in recent years due to the rapidly increasing population of the coastal towns between Victor Harbor and Hindmarsh Island, and an expanding local tourism industry. Because of this the road has had high numbers of fatalities; 14 people lost their lives and 163 people were injured during 2000-2004. Due to its local notoriety the road has had significant works since early 2004 with resurfacing, overtaking lanes, increased police attention and the reduction of speed limits.

The Royal Automobile Association (RAA) rated the highway at a 4.5/10 (which means it failed to pass certain benchmarks). RAA believes that if the road is duplicated will improve safety on the road remarkably.[1]

Upgrades

The southern end of Victor Harbor Road, where it joins South Road was for many years, a disaster of an intersection. Traffic travelling south would have to stop at the intersection, and wait until safe to turn right to South Road. South Road was often quite busy, and this caused congestion, with a line regularly reaching 500 meters, and sometimes even extending back a whole kilometer, to Robinson Road. Due to this, driver impatience was a regular occurrence, with many drivers turning in gaps too small, and being the cause of a number of crashes at the location. After this turn was made, traffic would join with the 1-lane South Road, which was also extremely busy at times, making it very difficult to merge left on Seaford Road. Between September 2009 and June 2010, major upgrades were undertaken at the intersection (as well as the South Road/Seaford Road/Patapinda Road intersection), greatly increasing safety at the intersection. The single lane and stop system was replaced with Victor Harbor Road and South Road both widening to 3 lanes, and having traffic lights at the intersection. This also increased the ease of turning onto Seaford Road. Heading south, Victor Harbor Road and South Road have both also been widened with an additional 3rd lane, giving 2 lanes for the turn onto Victor Harbor Road, as well as 2 lanes to continue on South Road.

The intersection of Victor Harbor Road and Main Road has also been notorious for fatal crashes. In 2011, construction started to build an overpass at the junction. The overpass will separate through traffic travelling along Victor Harbor Road from traffic turning right into and out of McLaren Vale. The overpass is expected to be completed in late 2012.

See also

References

  1. ↑ RAA Roadwatch Report

External links