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.

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)