Roads Australia has released for member comment a draft policy statement that focuses on improving travel time reliability to reduce the costs of urban congestion.
RA Chief Executive, Ian Webb, says the draft policy statement draws on the evidence and experience of a wide range of industry stakeholders, including RA’s own members working through the Congestion Policy Chapter.
“Roads Australia is in a unique position to influence decision-making by bringing together industry and government on key issues like congestion,” he says.
“Much good work has already been done by our road authorities around the country to plan, develop and implement integrated solutions to manage congestion.
“But with the avoidable social costs (of congestion) set to top $20 billion by 2020, we can’t afford to drop the ball.”
Mr Webb says congestion can’t be solved by simply building more roads, not can it be solved by governments alone.
“There is a case for investing in new infrastructure on certain parts of the network. But we need to adopt an integrated approach that targets both the level of supply and demand for urban transport,” he says.
“The purpose of our Congestion Chapter, and this draft policy statement, is to explore further opportunities for industry and government to work together to improve the efficiency of the network, with a focus on improving journey travel time reliability to reduce those avoidable costs of congestion.”
The draft policy statement and its appendices are available on the RA website.
Roads Australia is seeking member feedback by September 4 to inform the final version of the policy document. All feedback should be emailed to RA Media Director, Mark Bowmer.
Queensland Transport and Main Roads (TMR) has taken a further positive step in emphasising and addressing sustainability in major road construction projects following representations from Roads Australia.
TMR has undertaken to require a non-price criteria addressing sustainability in expressions of interest for its more complex projects delivered through nontraditional means, such as ECI, Alliance and D&C.
The move follows direct representations by RA seeking a greater focus on the integration of the principles of sustainability (economic, social, and environmental impacts) into the planning, delivery and operation of major infrastructure projects.
The issue is a key agenda item of RA’s Sustainability Chapter. RA has written to road authorities and had follow-up discussions to push the issue.
RA Sustainability Chapter Chair, Peter Walton, has welcomed the initiative by TMR, adding that RA has had fruitful discussions with other road authorities.
“Our industry as a whole recognises the importance of sustainable outcomes, and RA is in a unique position to facilitate positive, practical initiatives to help achieve these outcomes,” Peter says.
Federal Labor has promised to have Infrastructure Australia work with the NSW Government to explore private financing options for the M5 East widening and the F3 to M2 upgrade if re-elected on August 21.
The commitment was made this week in conjunction with Labor’s promise to invest $2.1 billion in the Parramatta to Epping rail link.
The M5 corridor is the main freight, commercial and passenger route between Port Botany, Sydney Airport, and south west Sydney. The M5 East tunnel carries some 95,000 vehicles per day, with congestion issues impacting heavily on Sydney’s economic productivity and competitiveness.
In a joint statement, Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, said it was clear that the M5 needed widening and Federal Labor would make available the expertise of Infrastructure Australia to progress this project.
The F3 to M2 upgrade will be a new link between the F3 and the Sydney Orbital, with a preferred alignment for an upgrade being the corridor along Pennant Hills Road. This is Sydney’s major freight and commuter route going north.
These projects have been identified in the NSW Government’s Metropolitan Transport Plan, and are part of the integrated transport plan for Sydney.
Through the current Nation Building Program, Federal Labor has budgeted $150 million for planning work for the F3 to M2.
Among other Labor campaign commitments so far (including some subject to further assessment) are:
On the other side of the political fence, the Liberal - National Coalition transport infrastructure platform includes:
The first sod was turned this week on the new Hunter Expressway, a 40 kilometre dual carriageway connecting the F3 to the New England Highway.
Its construction is a jointly funded project with $1.45 billion coming from the Federal Government and a further $200 million from the NSW Government.
Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, was joined by NSW Premier, Kristina Keneally, to turn the first sod on this new road.
“After 18 months of detailed planning, geotechnical investigations and site preparations it’s now full steam ahead with delivering this long awaited new piece of infrastructure,” said Mr Albanese.
The new Hunter Expressway will be delivered via two contracts:
Mr Albanese was also on hand this week to turn the first sod to mark the start of major construction on the $700 million Sapphire to Woolgoolga duplication of the Pacific Highway.
World-leading technology that is improving traffic flow and safety along the Monash and West Gate Freeways has won national recognition, with the new M1 freeway management system winning the inaugural Australian Smart Infrastructure Award.
Victorian Roads and Ports Minister, Tim Pallas, welcomed the award from Infrastructure Partnerships Australia and the Commonwealth Government and said it confirmed Victoria led the nation in finding smarter and more efficient ways to move people around on our road network.
“Our new freeway management system is being implemented as part of $1.39 billion M1 Upgrade and includes linked freeway ramp entry signals, electronic driver information boards, variable speed limit signs and lane use direction signage.
“These systems are dynamically-linked and coordinated through the VicRoads Traffic Management Centre in Kew, so drivers get real-time traffic information and advice where they need it most.”
The Australian Smart Infrastructure Awards recognise project excellence in design, and delivery of innovative, technology-driven solutions to infrastructure bottlenecks and urban congestion.
Mr Pallas said even though the new M1 technology system was not yet fully implemented, together with associated road improvements, it was already delivering travel time savings of up to 20 minutes outbound along the Monash Freeway from CityLink to the south eastern suburbs.
“VicRoads development and application of smart road technology is being recognised on a national and world stage, having also won two Engineers Australia Excellence Awards for Engineering Innovation, and for Technology.”
The smart technology being developed for the M1 upgrade will also be applied along Melbourne’s M80 Ring Road, with works on the $2.25 billion project well underway as part of the $38 billion Victorian Transport Plan.
The western extension of the Geelong Ring Road through Waurn Ponds to Mt Duneed will commence in the coming months with the $71 million contract for the new freeway connection awarded to the Cut and Fill construction company.
Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, and Victorian Roads and Ports Minister, Tim Pallas, last month announced the awarding of the contract to deliver a seamless freeway connection from Anglesea Road at Waurn Ponds through to the Princes Highway at Mt Duneed.
“This new five kilometre freeway link to the upgraded Princes Highway is part of a safer, four-lane divided route planned to continue through to Winchelsea,” Mr Albanese said.
Construction of the 2.5 kilometre Geelong Ring Road-Anglesea Road connection remains on track for completion later this year, with initial works for the highway duplication to Winchelsea to start in coming months.
The Federal and State governments have already committed $618 million towards the Geelong Ring Road project, with the Victorian Government announcing an additional $76.9 million earlier this year to link the popular freeway to the Surf Coast Highway.
The International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) and ARRB Group (ARRB) have announced that they will cooperate to develop the first iRAP Centre of Excellence.
The iRAP Centre of Excellence will support the ongoing development and implementation of iRAP to prevent road crash deaths and serious injuries and generate wider community benefits.
The agreement was signified by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by iRAP’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Rob McInerney, and ARRB’s Managing Director, Mr Gerard Waldron, at ARRB headquarters in Melbourne.
Rob and Gerard said the agreement will be important in improving the safety of roads during the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety, which begins in 2011. The goal of the Decade is to dramatically reduce the burden of road crashes, which currently claim 3,500 lives every day worldwide.
The iRAP-ARRB agreement paves the way for cooperative action on improving the safety of road infrastructure both in Australia and around the world.
iRAP has identified infrastructure improvements that can prevent one in four deaths on rural and urban roads in developing countries. The plans target roads where pedestrians, motorcyclists, vehicle occupants and bicyclists are killed and injured with brutal regularity, and identify proven road safety measures that can prevent millions of deaths and save billions of dollars.
The International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to saving lives through safer roads. Road Assessment Programmes (RAP) are now active in more than 50 countries throughout Europe, Asia Pacific, North, Central and South America and Africa. iRAP is financially supported by the FIA Foundation for the Automobile and Society. Projects receive support from the World Bank Global Road Safety Facility, the Inter American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, automobile associations and donors.
The Pacific Motorway-Gateway Motorway merge at Eight Mile Plains has been identified as the biggest headache for Queensland motorists in a state-wide RACQ poll.
The Brisbane intersection received the highest number of nominations in the motoring club’s latest Red Spot survey in which 2600 members had their say on road congestion.
RACQ senior traffic and safety engineer Greg Miszkowycz said intersections were by far the biggest source of frustration for motorists, with 64 percent of respondents nominating an intersection as a spot that made them see red.
Red Spot surveys have been conducted regularly since 1996 to quantify community angst, identify emerging and recurring problems with congestion and bring the worst red spots to the attention of relevant road authorities.
Responses increased by 40 percent since the last survey in 2007, with more than 1500 nominations in the Brisbane area alone.
Full state-wide survey results can be viewed at the RACQ website.
VicRoads has encouraged future bridge designers to consider a career with the roads authority following the announcement last week of the winner for the Aurecon Bridge Building Competition.
Acting Chief Executive for VicRoads, Bruce Gidley, said that the budding engineers considering working at VicRoads had a range of career options open to them.
“VicRoads has approximately 3500 bridges on its road network and our Major Projects and Regional Services divisions are constructing new bridges every year,” said Mr Gidley.
“We provide opportunities for young engineers to gain experience while working on Victoria’s most important new and existing bridges like the West Gate Bridge.”
The Aurecon Bridge Building Competition is aimed at Year 8 and 9 students to engage them in an activity that shows them how engineering can be a fun and interesting career choice. It is also aimed at encouraging students to select maths and science based subjects.
VicRoads was on the judging panel and sponsored the first prize in the bridge building competition as well as prizes in other categories.
Students from Kaniva College designed the winning bridge from balsa wood and cardboard tubes, which withstood 81.2 kg before collapsing. The three team members each took home $200 and Kaniva College won $1500. Judges also awarded points for aesthetics and workmanship.
David Staehr, a teacher at Kaniva College said that the Aurecon Bridge Building Competition was an amazing opportunity for his students.
“All of the students are so enthusiastic and eager to compete and it’s great to see the support that Aurecon and VicRoads provide to our future engineers,” he said.
Submitted by Mark Bowmer on Friday August 13th 2010 3:06pm
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