Trucks will be restricted from the right hand lane on multi-lane freeways in Victoria as part of a State Government plan to improve safety and encourage better road sharing across the State.
Roads and Ports Minister, Tim Pallas, announced last week that the new restrictions would be implemented by the middle of this year on the Princes Freeway (Geelong Road) between the Western Ring Road interchange and Beach Road interchange at Lara, with a progressive rollout to follow on other freeways.
“Restricting trucks from the right-hand lane on freeways with three or more lanes of traffic in each direction is aimed squarely at making some of the busiest roads in the state safer, while ensuring the needs of all drivers on these roads are met,” he said.
Mr Pallas said the Government recognised the importance of the freight industry, but was also committed to minimising the interaction of private vehicles and trucks, providing safety benefits and more certainty for motorists.
Restrictions will apply to all heavy vehicles (excepting buses) that have a Gross Vehicle Mass of 4.5 tonnes and over. VicRoads Transport Safety Services and Victoria Police will monitor and enforce the new restriction.
Commenting on the announcement, Roads Australia said the positive message was the recognition that we need to better manage our roads as a limited resource - both from a safety standpoint and in terms of network efficiency.
“We can’t build our way out of problems like congestion with new roads alone. We have to get smarter about how we use what we’ve already got,” said Roads Australia Chief Executive, Ian Webb.
“The principle of rationing and prioritising access to our existing road network is a good one. The challenge is to ensure it’s done fairly.”
ConnectEast, the owner and operator of EastLink, welcomed the initiative. The new restriction is expected to take effect on EastLink by mid-2011.
“ConnectEast is strongly supportive of this move because it will create safer and better flowing traffic conditions for motorists on roads across Melbourne, including EastLink,” said ConnectEast Managing Director, Dennis Cliche.
The Victorian Transport Association reacted with a positive but cautious view.
“The VTA will be working with Government to implement the exclusion lanes on the initial trial roads, and we will be closely monitoring the developments,” said VTA Chief Executive, Philip Lovel.
“We are pleased that Minister Pallas has consulted the Association on this issue. We were aware of this plan and have been debating the issue for a long time. Now the decision has been made and we will work with it. What is most important to us is that these new restrictions must not compromise road safety or freight transport efficiency.
“The key to this plan working is that all motorists need to change their attitudes, not just truck drivers.
"We would like to see the RACV put their money where their mouth is and pay for a major community awareness campaign for motorists to understand trucks."
The Federal Government has this month released its State of Australian Cities 2010 report.
The report draws together existing data and information across a range of economic, social and environmental parameters to provide a national snapshot of the 17 Australian cities with populations over 100,000 at the 2006 Census. It also highlights emerging trends and issues to promote discussion and debate on managing growth and change in urban centres.
The State of Australian Cities 2010 report will set the context and scope for further involvement by the Australian Government in urban policy and planning. The next stage will involve the development of a national cities strategy that outlines the Commonwealth’s approach to achieving more productive, liveable and sustainable cities in the future.
The report can be downloaded at the Infrastructure Australia website.
Fulton Hogan has been selected to widen the Pacific Motorway (M1) from four to six lanes between Nerang and Worongary, clearing the way for work to begin next month.
The announcement was made last week by Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, and Queensland Main Roads Minister, Craig Wallace.
Mr Wallace said the $158 million project, expected to be completed in the first half of 2012, would go a long way towards easing congestion in south east Queensland.
“It’s the latest stage in the $420 million commitment from both the Rudd and Bligh Labor government to upgrade a key section of the Motorway between Coomera and Varsity Lakes,” he said.
The upgrade of the Nerang South Interchange was completed in August 2009, with the Mudgeeraba Interchange upgrade expected to be completed by the middle of the year and the Varsity Lakes Interchange upgrade by late 2010.
The Civil Contractors Federation (CCF) has welcomed the release of a discussion paper on skilled labour needs for the resources sector, saying key questions it raises about training will have important implications for civil construction.
The National Resources Sector Employment Taskforce released the discussion paper, Resourcing the Future, earlier this month. The paper is designed to stimulate a national conversation about the resources sector’s increasing demand for skilled labour, given the large number of major resources projects that are due to commence in the next five or more years.
Commenting on the paper, CCF National Chief Executive Officer, Chris White, said: “Our members are already reporting to us skills shortages in key areas such as skilled plant operators like grader and dozer operators, as well as in areas such as bridge and road construction and pipe-laying. We expect this situation to exacerbate considerably as major mining projects come on line.
“At the same time, all governments are concentrating heavily on building roads and freeways as well as port and rail infrastructure outside of the resources sector. There will be competing demands for skilled labour, as civil and resource employers often draw their employees from the same skills pool.
“Our previous experience has seen civil construction workers leave civil occupations for the resources sector. The Discussion Paper is very forward thinking in that it has a clear view that in assisting the resources sector the interests of other industries must be taken into account.”
To download the paper, go to the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations website.
New heavy vehicle safety measures, including point to point speed cameras and increased speeding fines for heavy vehicle users, come into effect in NSW this month to make regional roads safer.
NSW Minister for Transport and Roads, David Campbell, said this week the new cameras would target speeding heavy vehicles that weigh over 4.5 tonnes by measuring the time it takes a heavy vehicle to travel a length of road.
“If a truck’s average speed is higher than the speed limit for the road, the driver will be fined and incur demerit points,” Mr Campbell said.
“Despite heavy vehicles making up only three per cent of vehicle registrations, trucks over 4.5 tonnes are represented in nearly 20 per cent of road fatalities across the state.”
The first cameras come on line later this month, on a 35 km stretch of the Pacific Highway from New Italy to Harwood, Mr Campbell said.
By the end of 2011, the cameras will be rolled out to 20 locations identified by road safety experts.
Point-to-point technology is already in place in many countries across Europe and has also been introduced at locations along the Hume Highway in Victoria.
Nominations are now open for the inaugural Australian Smart Infrastructure Awards for innovative, technology-driven solutions to infrastructure bottlenecks and urban congestion.
Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, announced the new annual awards at the ThinkSmart 2010 conference held today in Parliament House as part of the House of Representatives Committee Inquiry into Smart Infrastructure.
The awards will recognise project excellence in design, delivery, and use of infrastructure in any of Infrastructure Australia’s national priority areas, including the rail freight, water and urban development.
The Australian Smart Infrastructure Project Award will go to an innovative technology based project, while the Australian Smart Infrastructure Research Award will provide a $25,000 grant for an innovative proposal supporting excellence in smart infrastructure research and development.
Applications are open until Friday 14 May 2010.
The program for next month’s Roads Australia Summit is shaping as the strongest in years, with four ministers - including Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese - and the chief executives of four state road authorities among the participants.
Mr Albanese will deliver the keynote address on the first morning of the Summit on April 22.
The latest program for the two-day event in Sydney is available at the RA website. Participants can also register at the website.
This year's Summit is supported by Gold Sponsors Abigroup, ARRB, Hyder, Leighton Contractors and SKM, as well as Silver Sponsor, Clayton Utz.
Among other speakers and participants confirmed for this year’s Summit are NSW Treasurer, Eric Roozendaal; NSW Transport and Roads Minister, David Campbell; Queensland Main Roads Minister, Craig Wallace; the head of Infrastructure Australia, Michael Deegan; and the Chairman of the National Transport Commission, Greg Martin.
The John Shaw Medal dinner, to be held on the evening of April 22 and sponsored by Parsons Brinckerhoff, is now sold out.
The following story appears courtesy of World Highways.
Netherlands road pricing trial results released
NXP Semiconductors and IBM have announced the final results of a landmark road pricing trial conducted in the Netherlands, which demonstrated that with the help of technology, drivers can be motivated to change their driving behaviour, reducing traffic congestion and contributing to a greener environment.
The six-month road pricing trial, conducted in the city of Eindhoven, was designed to provide the Dutch government with insights to address the challenge of traffic congestion in the Netherlands. The test was overwhelmingly successful, with 70 per cent of drivers changing their behaviour to avoid rush-hour travel when presented with the right incentives, demonstrating that road pricing systems can have a positive effect on driving habits and help alleviate traffic.
Read more on this story at the World Highways website.
Submitted by Mark Bowmer on Friday March 12th 2010 1:53pm
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