City tram extension and population boost wanted by 2036
The Adelaide City Council want to grow the city’s population to 50,000 by 2036. Their City Plan outlines how they’ll get there, with a focus on city neighbourhoods and an extended tram line which one councillor said could cost “north of $500 million”.
The council’s city planning, development and business affairs committee endorsed their City Plan last night, which earmarks neighbourhoods with the highest growth potential and expands public transport to better service the city.
The west of the city, specifically the Grote Gateway, West Terrace, West End and Whitmore Square areas were flagged as having the most significant development potential for housing and business growth.
The plan anticipates there will also be moderate growth around Hutt Street and Hurtle Square. It also prioritises transport diversity, with improved walkability and cycling networks and a greener and cooler city that increases climate resilience and improves canopy cover.
The plan includes strengthening the urban spine of the city, using a North Adelaide tram line to link attractions like the Adelaide Aquatic Centre and Adelaide Zoo and O’Connell Street and King William Street.
It will investigate a City Loop to “expand the existing light rail along North Terrace and Port Road providing an opportunity to hop-on and hop-off at key locations across the city.” The City Loop will complement the existing free city connector bus.
The Adelaide City Council have been advocating for an extended tram network to North Adelaide and Prospect for years, and it was a feature of recent discussions about upgrading O’Connell Street.
A computer image of the shelved 2018 North Adelaide tram extension.
The Malinauskas Government has not committed to the North Adelaide tram extension.
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The former Weatherill Labor Government pledged in 2018 to bring trams back to North Adelaide, with a two-kilometre line running down O’Connell Street with stops at Adelaide Oval, the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Archer Street and the Piccadilly Cinema.
Councillor Mark Siebentritt said in last night’s meeting that while he’s supportive of increased public transport servicing the city spine, he has hesitations about advocating for a tram loop that estimates suggest could cost “north of $500 million”.
“I still am reluctant around a document that infers that the city loop is via a tram,” Siebentritt said.
“I know that’s not the exact wording, and I feel like we have made some amendments to the wording, but I think there’s still an inference that that’s what it is.
“My preference will be for a public transport solution around the loop, but I just think that the suggesting that it’s going to be a light rail, the cost of that is going to be too significant.”
Any North Adelaide tram extension must pass over the Adelaide Bridge on King William Road. Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily
Any tramline extension to North Adelaide is likely to hinge on an upgrade of the state heritage-listed Adelaide Bridge over the River Torrens.
The King William Road bridge was built between 1929 and 1931. A council tender released in September 2023 said it could deteriorate to an “unsafe level” if not upgraded or replaced within five years.
According to the council’s draft Long Term Financial Plan, a like-for-like replacement of the bridge is estimated to be $60 million, and the financial plan assumes it will need replacing in 2030-31.
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Shop-top premises in Rundle Mall, the type of space being targeted for CBD housing under the Council’s housing strategy. Photo: Thomas Kelsall/InDaily
To grow the population to 50,000 by 2036, about 1000 dwellings per year will be added to the CBD between now and then. The plan focuses on a range of housing types, including terrace houses, adaptive reuse initiatives, shop-top housing, mid-rise and higher-density developments.
A key priority of the City Plan is to enhance the individual identities and places within the broader city to create “a city of neighbourhoods”.
In the consultation, Lot Fourteen, a key stakeholder, criticised this, saying that the “City of Neighbourhoods has a promising ring to it but seems to be simply a division of the map of the city into segments rather than representing how residents and visitors experience and see the city”.
Representatives from Lot Fourteen also gave the feedback that the City Plan had “no projection of a visitor-awareness, it seems inward-looking”.
They pointed out that “visitor attraction is critical to the health and vitality of the whole city” and noted Lot Fourteen is “a major contributor to the success of the city”.
The council made several updates to its plan based on their comments, including adding a reference to Lot Fourteen on North Terrace and the role it plays in economic growth.
Lot Fourteen. Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily
The plan was endorsed by the committee last night, with only Councillor Henry Davis voting against it.
“I don’t think that 50,000 population is achievable, or likely,” Davis said.
“The other problem that I have with the City Plan is the lack of focus on business development.
“I mean, 80 per cent of our rate revenue comes from businesses and from business activities. I think that the city plan should absolutely be having a massive focus on that.”
The council have noted in the plan that their population goal of 50,000 is based on their growth capacity, not on projected population figures.
Councillor Mary Couros, who is in favour of the City Plan said the council “have to set ourselves some aspirations” in regards to population growth and transport.
“In regards to a loop around the city, I mean we have to set ourselves up to some sort of aspirations, and if we manage to achieve those great, so I look forward to the future,” she said.
