The Sydney Morning Herald this week reported on an interesting twist in the international debate on congestion charging - a Co2 levy.
A report from the UK said London Mayor Ken Livingstone was planning to impose a Co2 charge on top of the city’s existing congestion charge, with the worst polluting vehicles facing a threefold increase in the cost of accessing central London. Environmentally friendly vehicles would get into the city for free, the report said.
In Brisbane, the Courier Mail reported on comments in Parliament by Premier Anna Bligh that traffic congestion was set to cost the State’s economy $3 billion a year by 2020. In addition to long-term solutions like the Gateway Bridge duplication, she said the Government was determined to ‘tackle hotspots’ like the Airport Drive interchange.
In Melbourne, the Victorian Government’s new road safety strategy (see story below) sparked debate. The plan to allow drivers to trade demerit points for completing a driver education course drew a mixed response in the Herald Sun, with road safety experts divided on its potential effectiveness. However, the new restriction on the number of passengers carried by under 21 P-plate drivers in their first year of driving was welcomed by experts in an Age report.
A proposal to build a second Iron Cove Bridge in Sydney’s inner west has come under fire, with both the Herald and Daily Telegraph reporting opposition. The Herald reported on a demonstration by local residents who say the money should be earmarked for public transport. The Telegraph carried comments by former RTA Director, Ken Dobinson, who said there were worse traffic squeeze points on Victoria Road and the money would be better spent improving bus lanes.
And the Australian Financial Review this week reported that the current credit crisis could have serious cost implications for PPPs, affecting how they attract debt capital and at what cost.
The ARF has put forward two nominees for the Federal Government’s new Infrastructure Australia Council.
The ARF nominees are Australian Local Government Association President, Cr Paul Bell AM, and Abigroup Contractors’ Executive Director Operations, David Jurd.
The ARF was invited to submit nominations for consideration for the 12-member Council by the office of the Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese. The Council, which will consist of Commonwealth, State and private sector representatives, will advise the Federal Government and COAG on infrastructure issues.
ARF Chief Executive, Ian Webb, says the two ARF nominees have vast experience and offer very different skills sets.
“Cr Bell has across-the-board policy experience in several infrastructure contexts, while Mr Jurd brings enormous practical - and current - construction and feasibility experience,” Mr Webb says.
“ARF believes both these candidates if chosen would make an excellent contribution to the Council’s work.”
Construction on the Ballina Bypass Pacific Highway upgrade, in northern NSW, has moved a step closer with the announcement this month of preferred contractors on the project.
In a joint statement, Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, and NSW Roads Minister, Eric Roozendaal, said that Leighton Contractors, Maunsell AECOM, SMEC and Coffey Geotechnics had been identified as the preferred private firms to partner with the RTA on the design and construction of the 12.4 kilometre section of dual carriageway.
The work is expected to be completed by mid-2012.
Mr Albanese said the Federal Government planned to spend $2.5 billion over the next six years upgrading the Pacific Highway.
“Plans for further sections to be improved under the multi-billion dollar program will go on display in the next few months,” he said.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has undertaken to examine ways to boost public and private investment in economic infrastructure as part of the Government’s Australia 2020 Summit.
Mr Rudd outlined the agenda for the Summit, to be held in Canberra on 19 and 20 April, earlier this month.
Commenting on the infrastructure challenge, Mr Rudd said the Government was committed to building world class infrastructure to improve the competitiveness of businesses and quality of life in Australia’s cities and regions.
“Our priorities for advanced infrastructure include modern, safe and efficient freight and passenger transport networks, a high speed National Broadband Network, and reliable water and energy infrastructure,” he said.
“Modern infrastructure is critical to reducing costs for business and building the platforms for future economic growth.”
Mr Rudd said the Australia 2020 Summit would examine ways to:
Victorian Premier John Brumby has unveiled a range of new road safety initiatives to drive down the State’s road toll, including tougher drink driving laws, more driver education, passenger restrictions for P-plate drivers, and mandatory car safety technology.
Mr Brumby said last week the new initiatives were the cornerstone of the Victorian Government’s arrive alive 2008-2017 road safety strategy, which aimed to achieve a 30 per cent reduction in the road toll.
The new strategy follows on from the success of Victoria’s first arrive alive! which the Government says prevented around 580 deaths over the five years to 2007, compared to the road toll in 2001.
The new key road safety strategies in arrive alive 2008-2017 included:
Minister for Roads and Ports, Tim Pallas, said that the Government had undertaken extensive research and planning to develop its road safety strategy, consulting road safety experts and monitoring the success of strategies in other states.
"Due to planning and research, we have been able to improve safety on our transport system and become an internationally recognised leader in road safety,” Mr Pallas said.
“In the past five years we’ve had the five lowest road tolls in our history, reducing fatalities by almost 20 per cent, and overseeing an 11 per cent reduction in people admitted to hospital for more than one day.”
Completing the F6 Motorway through Sydney’s southern suburbs would deliver a net economic benefit of almost $3 billion to NSW, according to new research conducted by the NRMA.
The economic impact study, which looked at completing the F6 from St Peters to Loftus with a tunnelled section between Port Hacking Road at Sylvania and Loftus, would cost about $2.2 billion to build and maintain and deliver immediate benefits of almost $1.1 billion.
The NRMA report found that the long-term economic benefits after costs are taken into consideration would reach almost $3 billion by 2031, highlighting the economic benefits the new highway would have for the Illawarra through growth in jobs and local industries.
The report found that the $2.2 billion tunnelled motorway would deliver immediate economic benefits by:
* Cutting vehicle operating costs, including petrol consumption ($559 million)
* Reducing travel times for motorists ($475 million)
* Cutting the costs associated with road crashes ($22 million)
The net economic benefit of $3 billion would be achieved through greater delivery of goods and services across Australia (particularly from Port Kembla and Port Botany), new industries that will grow in the area once the motorway is built and job growth.
A travel time survey conducted by the NRMA in 2005 found that travel times for residents living in Wollongong to Sydney city would be cut from 70 minutes to 55 minutes.
The NRMA report also assessed the cost-benefit ratio for completing the F6 from Gymea to Loftus without the tunnel. While the total cost would be $1.1 billion the long-term economic benefit would only be $2.5 billion and traffic would still be forced into residential neighbourhoods between Gymea and St Peters.
Free-flow tolling is set to be introduced by mid next year on Brisbane’s Logan and Gateway motorways.
Main Roads Minister Warren Pitt and Queensland Motorways chief executive officer Phil Mumford last week announced plans to introduce free-flow tolling technology at all toll booths on the two motorways by mid-2009, two years earlier than planned.
Mr Pitt said the transition to free-flow tolling on the Logan Motorway, the Gateway Extension and the Gateway Bridge would significantly improve the operation of toll roads in Queensland.
It would provide Brisbane motorists with substantial improvements in travel reliability, simplicity and safety, and eliminate the congestion associated with bottlenecks at toll plazas, he said.
Mr Mumford said the immediate focus was to create a suite of tolling products that would be simple, affordable and widely available.
IBM Australia has been appointed to provide the central system for free-flow tolling and Thales Australia will provide the roadside systems for vehicle identification.
Mr Mumford said Queensland Motorways would work closely with staff affected by the transition to fully outline options and opportunities for ongoing employment and retraining within Queensland Motorways.
Melbourne’s EastLink project has passed yet another milestone today with the opening of ConnectEast’s new corporate headquarters and operations centre in the heart of the new road corridor at Ringwood.
More than 100 staff are presently employed at Ringwood, a number that is expected to expand to over 130 by the time the motorway opens later this year. A further 270 ConnectEast staff will be located at five EastLink service centres in local shopping centres, and the Mt Waverley contact centre.
ConnectEast Managing Director, John Gardiner, says no other Australian tollroad company has sought to provide this high level of customer service and convenience.
The RACQ has launched its 2008 Unroadworthy Roads survey, asking members and other motorists to nominate Queensland roads they believe are not up to the traffic task because of design faults or ongoing maintenance issues.
RACQ external relations general manager, Gary Fites, said this week the club’s previous Unroadworthy Roads survey, conducted in 2005, identified 240 inadequate or substandard roads.
“The good news for motorists is that a number of roads identified as being of greatest concern in the last survey have received some attention,” Mr Fites said.
“These include the realignment of two lanes of the Bruce Highway in north Queensland, from Corduroy Creek to the Tully High School, where works totalling $172 million are being carried out to make the highway less susceptible to flooding and safer.
“And widening of the Maroochydore Road on the Sunshine Coast, from the Bruce Highway to Martins Creek, to four lanes, which is due for completion in the middle of this year.”
“We are aware of several other projects scheduled or under way on at least seven of the top 20 list of state or federal controlled problem roads identified in our 2005 survey.”
Mr Fites said the RACQ wants to see more money invested in roads.
“Better roads yield substantial benefits in terms of safety and economic efficiency,” he said.
“The National Road Safety Strategy estimates that half of the targeted reduction in fatality rate will come from improvements to roads.”
Work is beginning on the long-awaited duplication of the Houghton Highway between Sandgate and Redcliffe on Brisbane’s northside.
Queensland Main Roads Minister Warren Pitt says the project—which will build a second Houghton Highway bridge between the Deagon Deviation at Brighton and the Redcliffe Peninsula—will transform transport opportunities for Redcliffe residents.
The new Houghton Highway bridge is scheduled to open in mid-2010, after which the existing bridge will be refurbished. All work is scheduled to finish by mid-2011, when commuters will have access to both bridges, as well as dedicated lanes for public transport services.
The Australian Trucking Association (ATA) will convene a trucking industry Safety Summit in May.
The summit, to be held in Canberra on May 28, will be part of the 2008 Trucking Convention from May 27-30.
The Summit will focus on how the industry can push its accident rate down further and change the culture of regulators, the supply chain and the industry so safety becomes a basic part of doing business for everyone.
The ATA’s Chief Executive, Stuart St Clair, said last week there has been a dramatic improvement in the safety of the trucking industry since the early 90’s, but more needs to be done.
“In 2006 there were 140 fatal crashes involving articulated trucks, compared to 205 fatal crashes in 1990, a decline of 32 per cent. But even one fatal crash is too many,” he said.
“The amount of freight on Australia’s roads is forecast to grow substantially over the next two decades, and the industry has to take the lead in implementing effective and practical safety measures. We need safer trucks, safer drivers, safer companies and safer roads.
“The Summit will be an opportunity for the industry to reflect on its safety and compliance achievements, and to focus collectively on the improvements needed to make our industry safer.”
For more information on the Safety Summit and Convention, go to www.atatruck.net.au/atc
The Third Australian Road Engineering & Maintenance Conference 2008 is being held in Melbourne on Wednesday March 5 and Thursday March 6.
The conference, which is supported by the ARF, is held annually and draws more than 200 delegates from councils, state road authorities and private sector from across Australia.
More than 25 expert speakers from councils, state road authorities and the private sector will address the full range of topics dealing with contemporary practices in road design, engineering and maintenance with a special focus on local roads.
Alan Sheridan, Director of Works, Noosa Council, will deliver a keynote presentation at the conference on the topics of Green Roads - A Case Study in the Delivery of Major Arterial Roads in a Sustainable and Environmentally Responsible Manner.
Practical case studies, based on award-winning projects, are a feature of this conference to enable councils and other road authorities to immediately implement the information presented at the conference. The speaking program is further augmented by a number of practical workshops and a highly relevant exhibition.
Key conference themes will include developments within effective road maintenance; alliance contracts and road delivery models; good paving practices; and work management issues connected with working under traffic.
For more information on the conference, including the full speaking program and online registration, visit www.halledit.com.au/conferences/roads/2008/ or contact Denise McQueen on ph. (03) 8534 5021 or email denise.mcqueen@halledit.com.au
Submitted by Mark Bowmer on Friday February 15th 2008 6:05pm
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