A six-month shutdown of the Glenelg tram line has begun with construction underway on a major upgrade of the tram and road network in the city's south-west. The $870 million project aims to ease congestion at some of the key traffic pain points along the tram line. While buses will replace trams between the city and Glenelg, there are some concerns about the impact on business at the Bay.
00:00Looking down an empty tram line at six months of pain.
00:05We were actually kind of scared because we were like we're about to lose a lot of our like regular customers that use the tram and they come like every day.
00:13Jetty Road traders are facing a double whammy.
00:15The tram line from Glenelg to the city expected to remain closed until January next year.
00:21At the same time, Holdfast Council has begun a major revamp of Jetty Road.
00:26We could do like two months maybe, but six months I think they said it's going to be for the tram.
00:31It's going to be pretty like hectic.
00:33I think going into summer people will still want to come down to Glenelg.
00:36It will just be a little bit challenging and a little bit people will have to think outside the square and not just be able to jump on that tram.
00:42The state government says the line closures mean major improvements to the road and tram network will be fast tracked and reduce congestion citywide.
00:51We are the last capital city to operate on a grid network.
00:54The state and federally funded suite of projects will build overpasses to replace level crossings at Marion Road, Cross Road and Morfet Road.
01:02The government says more than 25,000 motorists cross Morfet Road daily where boom gates can be down for up to 16 minutes each hour.
01:11The existing overpass on South Road at Glandor will also be rebuilt, just 15 years after it was first constructed.
01:19The opposition calling for the government to support impacted traders.
01:23There absolutely needs to be financial support for these businesses in the terms of really marketing and telling the wider community that Jetty Road is open for business.
01:33The tram network is all about making sure that we can get more people to Glenelg as often as we can.
01:38The government has scheduled an additional 44 buses to pick up tram commuters.
01:42It will be better in the long run but it will certainly disrupt things for a little while.
01:46We're going to have to try and start catching the bus.
01:48The government confident the project will meet its January deadline.
