🏛️ Council

New R-12 school, main street changes and more planned in Murray Bridge

The Murray Bridge council is preparing for major population growth. Here’s what will go where as the city expands over the next decade.

Peri Strathearn

Jan 10, 2024 — 4 min read

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Community members check out a what-goes-where plan for the future of Murray Bridge at the city’s library. Photo: Holmes Dyer/Rural City of Murray Bridge.

Big changes on Bridge Street, a new R-12 school and a riverfront caravan park are needed as Murray Bridge’s population grows, locals say.

An updated structure plan for the city will guide the Murray Bridge council as it prepares to welcome thousands of new residents over the next 15 years.

The what-goes-where guide was based on feedback from residents last year, and re-published last month for a second round of public consultation.

So: what did we say Murray Bridge should look like five, 10 or more years from now?

The continued redevelopment of Murray Bridge Swimming Centre could become an option at some stage in the next few years. Image: DWP/Rural City of Murray Bridge.

Short term: zero to five years

Let’s start with a controversy: should Bridge Street should be one lane in each direction, with angle parking?

That’s what public feedback suggested, according to consultants Holmes Dyer.

The council has attempted the change twice in the past decade: in 2014, when it was discouraged by a Sixth Street revamp that proved unpopular, and again in 2018, when councillors opted for a cheaper “refresh” instead.

Could the third time be the charm?

Other improvements that could be made in the near future included:

Making sure a planned water sports park went ahead
Rezoning the area around the old Ridley mill for residential or tourism development
Enclosing and heating the city’s main swimming pool
Encouraging renovation of Murray Bridge Marketplace to better connect it with surrounding streets

Remember, by 2029 Murray Bridge’s population will have reached about 24,000 people – that’s 5000 more than at the last census.

Hundreds more houses will have been built, mostly in the city’s west and on undeveloped land along the River Murray.

More than 5200 allotments were already zoned and ready for development, the consultants said.

A new R-12 school would ease the pressure on Murray Bridge High School and St Joseph’s School as the local population grows. Photo: Shape.

Medium term: five to 10 years

By the mid-2030s our population will likely be pushing past 25,000, and new housing developments may be needed on the east side and at Northern Heights.

With most of growth expected to happen in the city’s west, however, a new R-12 school should be built behind the caravan park and Murray Heights retirement village.

It could be public; it could be a Catholic school, in keeping with the high demand for and limited space at St Joseph’s; or other church groups might seek to get involved.

More accommodation would be needed, too – so how about encouraging the development of a caravan park or similar on Hume Reserve Road, near the silos?

More mini-town centres should be created in Murray Bridge’s various neighbourhoods, too, as new homes were built further and further from the CBD.

Public feedback suggested shops and services could be clustered around the intersections of Mitchell Avenue and the Old Princes Highway on the east side; Adelaide Road/Bremer Road in the west; the Maurice/Brinkley Road crossroads in the southwest, and near the Swanport IGA, Swanport Road OTR or derelict Owl Drive shops.

There was still potential for a multi-sport hub at Murray Bridge Showground, even if a funding deal had recently fallen through.

And the old Thomas Foods site could be used by another major employer if it were cleaned up.

Community members have had feedback on areas all over the Murray Bridge district. Image: Holmes Dyer/Rural City of Murray Bridge.

Long term: 10-plus years

Estimates of Murray Bridge’s population in the 2040s vary from the 27,500-ish figure in the structure plan, to the high-end guess of 35,000 or more in a recent state government projection.

At any rate, all those people will have to live somewhere – perhaps at Gifford Hill, Swanport or even up at White Hill.

Perhaps the biggest change by the 2040s would be construction of a new ring road around Murray Bridge, linking Bremer Road with Mannum Road, even if the biggest trucks may ultimately be diverted through Monarto.

Ideally a linear park like the one on Adelaide Road would run along its length.

Mobilong Prison might need to expand by this stage, so land has been set aside for that.

Ultimately, the structure plan said, there was enough space around Murray Bridge for up to 19,000 new homes and as many as 25,000 extra people in the coming decades.