Work starts on road from Adelaide to north

Construction has begun on a near $1 billion South Australian road project that promises to improve access to the state's north.

Premier Jay Weatherill says the 480 jobs a year created by the $985 million northern connector project will help some of those "doing it tough" in the northern suburbs, where Holden will close its factory in 2017.

Lendlease are building the road which is expected to be ready by late 2019, with $788 million of the funding coming from the federal government.