South Road is the strategic north-south arterial route for freight movements within the metropolitan area. It provides the only continuous link between the northern and southern suburbs and is a crucial link for business and industry catering for up to 88,000 vehicles per day. Traffic volumes are expected to increase by up to 6 per cent per annum up to 2020.

The state government announced in 2005 a plan to transform South Road into a continuous non-stop route from the Southern Expressway to the Port River Expressway - a distance of 22 kilometres.

Upgrades at these bottlenecks will reduce congestion and improve safety along South Road - Adelaide's busiest and most critical main arterial freight route.

The first step in this plan has been the construction of an underpass at the South Road and Anzac Highway intersection.

These upgrades reflect the following targets highlighted in the South Australia Strategic Plan:

• Strategic infrastructure - Increase investment in strategic areas of infrastructure such as transport (T1.16)
• Exports – Treble the value of SA’s export income to $25 million (T1.12)
• Road Safety - Reduce road fatalities by 40 per cent by 2010 (T2.9)
• Quality of Life - Improve Adelaide’s quality of life ranking  (T2.1)