Roads Australia
A proposal to ban cars from key streets in the centre of Melbourne for one day next February attracted plenty of local media attention this week.
The proposal by an environmental group reportedly won the support of Melbourne City Council. However, subsequent reports in the Herald Sun had the Victorian Government stepping in to quash the plan, citing powers it held under the Road Management Act.
Victorian Roads and Ports Minister, Tim Pallas, reportedly described the proposal as ‘a hollow gesture and an indulgence’.
In Sydney, this week’s APEC summit had a significant impact on traffic volumes in the city. The Herald quoted RTA figures showing traffic volumes on the Harbour Bridge fell progressively through the week – down to 70 per cent of normal by Thursday. The Herald said traffic was also light on the seven main arteries into the city.
In other news, the Age carried a report of a survey by Monash University that showed one in three truckies had fallen asleep at the wheel in the past three months.
The Age also reported on another study conducted by Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital and the National Trauma Research Institute that revealed sleep deprivation was a much more significant factor in road accidents than previously thought.
The Daily Telegraph reported on a call from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons to impose a uniform national learner driver age of 18.
And the Adelaide Advertiser reported on calls from road industry stakeholders for the South Road upgrade to be completed within five to seven years, rather than the 20 years outlined by the Prime Minister in his funding announcement last month, to avoid cost blowouts.
ARF and the Victorian Civil Construction Industry Alliance are hosting a lunch in Melbourne this month with Martin Ferguson, the Shadow Minister for Transport, Roads and Tourism.
Mr Ferguson stands to become the new Minister responsible for Australia's transport and roads if Labor is elected to office at the forthcoming Federal election. This is a timely lunch and an opportunity to measure what may be in store.
The lunch is on 27 September at the Carousel, 22 Aughtie Drive, Albert Park Lake, and is open to both ARF members and non-members. Book online.
The first stage of upgrade works on Queensland’s Pacific Motorway between Tugun and Nerang are expected to commence before the end of the year following the announcement of a $455 million funding commitment by the Federal Government last week.
Federal Transport Minister Mark Vaile said the funding was provided on a matching basis with the Queensland Government and would be subject to the rules of the $22.3 billion AusLink 2 program.
The funding commitment is additional to the $120 million the Federal Government is providing toward the Tugun Bypass upgrade and the $163 million provided for the original upgrade of the Pacific Motorway.
"The identified priorities for this funding include the widening of the Tugun to Nerang section to up to eight lanes, as well as upgrades to increase the number of lanes on the M1 between the Gateway and Logan Motorways,” Mr Vaile said.
In a separate statement, Queensland Transport and Main Roads Minister, Paul Lucas, said Gold Coast residents would see action straight away.
He said Main Roads had been preparing designs and planning so it could get work underway as soon as possible once Canberra committed joint funding.
“Main Roads will call tenders (this week) for the Nerang South (Nielsens Road) interchange revamp - the first step in the complete upgrade of 23km of the Pacific Motorway between Nerang and Tugun,” Mr Lucas said.
Construction is expected to start before the end of the year on the upgrade, which will involve the replacement of both roundabouts at the current interchange with traffic lights and widening of the bridge over the Motorway to eight lanes.
Planning for the Nerang to Varsity Lakes interchange stretch of the M1 upgrade is due to be completed in December, with further planning work to follow.
Former US Vice President Al Gore will be among a group of key speakers at the OUR PLANET – LEAVING A LEGACY technical forum, hosted by GHD in Melbourne this month.
The one-day forum on September 21 is structured around five technical sessions focusing on biodiversity, sustainable transport solutions, low emission energy sources, water and sustainability.
In addition to the technical sessions, GHD is also presenting a special segment on Sustainable Built Environments and will unveil its carbon neutral concept building of the future, ZERO.
The gala-dinner will feature a Keynote Address from former Vice President Gore.
The program also features special guest presentations by Adam Kirkman, Program Manager for Energy and Climate Change, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (Switzerland), and Valerie Corre, General Director, European Union of Union of Ethanol Producers (UEPA) Belgium.
Targeted at Federal, state and local governments, private enterprise, infrastructure owners and operators, the professions, financiers, academia and research institutes, OUR PLANET is about demonstrating leadership, harnessing innovation and fostering a sustainable economy that serves society as a whole.
For more information go to www.ghd.com.au/ourplanet
Work has commenced on the upgrade of the Leakes Road interchange at Rockbank – a key component of Victoria’s Western Highway improvement program.
The Leakes Road project has been described as the ‘missing link’ in the joint Federal - State plan to bypass a congested section of the Western Highway containing 20 intersections and six sets of traffic signals.
Together with the Deer Park bypass, it forms part of a strategy to upgrade the Western Freeway between Deer Park and Melton, where the annual population growth exceeds 8.5 per cent.
The project will see construction of a two-lane overpass over the Western Freeway, entry and exit ramps in both directions, and the relocation of the nearby bus stops.
The $16.7 million contract, awarded to Cut and Fill Pty Ltd earlier this year, is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2008, and will be the first completed component of the $331 million Deer Park Bypass project.
The Deer Park Bypass is funded under the Auslink agreement, with the Australian Government contributing $265 million and the Victorian Government contributing $66 million.
A $12.5 million refurbishment program has been announced to further enhance the safe operation of Melbourne’s Burnley and Domain tunnels during emergencies.
The initiatives, announced this week by Victorian Roads and Ports Minister Tim Pallas and CityLink Chief Executive Brendan Bourke, include additional lighting to make the emergency exits easier to see and reconfigured entries to improve exit door access.
The tunnel walls will also be painted in distinctive colours to increase tunnel brightness and improve the driving experience.
Mr Pallas said the tunnel refurbishments were in line with international best-practice for tunnel safety and complemented other tunnel safety initiatives announced by the Victorian Government in April.
Safety measures already introduced include lowering the speed limit to 80 km/h on the Westgate Freeway between the tunnel portals at Southbank and the Westgate Bridge.
The Learner Permit handbook and test has also been redrafted to include a specific section on safe driving practices in tunnels.
Other measures announced include banning lane changes in tunnels and installing emergency barriers at the entrances to the tunnels.
Design works to allow for bans on lane changes within tunnels is progressing, while a major campaign promoting safe driving in tunnels will be launched before the new rules come into effect.
A preliminary independent inspection of Brisbane’s Captain Cook Bridge has confirmed a Main Roads’ finding that it is structurally safe, according to Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Paul Lucas.
The inspection, carried out on August 23 by University of Queensland’s Professor Peter Dux at the request of Main Roads, found fine cracks inside of the bridge that were normal and not structurally significant.
The independent investigation was carried out in response to claims aired in the Courier Mail of damage to the bridge during the attachment of a gantry.
Following the release of the initial inspection findings, Professor Dux is now involved in developing a process and methodology for determining the number of reinforcing bars that may have been cut during installation of the gantry.
The terms of reference for Professor Dux's investigation, together with a copy of the initial report, is available on the Main Roads website http://www.mainroads.qld.gov.au
The Federal Government has announced details of a $1.763 billion national package of 2007-08 financial assistance grants to local government for local roads and the provision of other local government services.
Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads, Jim Lloyd, said the grants were untied so councils could allocate the funds they received according to local priorities.
However he indicated in a statement that the provision and maintenance of road infrastructure came within the scope of the funding.
State-by-state allocations announced to date are:
In addition to these grants, councils will receive $300million in 2007-08 under the Auslink Roads to Recovery Programme. Details of the Roads to Recovery funding are located at: www.auslink.gov.au/funding/r2r/allocations/index.aspx
A key road improvement aimed at easing congestion in Melbourne’s south-east was officially opened this week.
The $24.5 million South Road Extension is part of the State Government’s $10.5 billion Meeting Our Transport Challenges plan.
Victorian Roads and Ports Minister, Tim Pallas, says the 1.1 km new road, linking Warrigal and Old Dandenong Roads, has been a crucial missing link in the arterial road network for many years.
“While motorists can expect to see less congestion in the surrounding roads, local residents in surrounding streets will notice a huge drop in the level of ‘rat-runs’ in residential streets,” he said.
Submitted by Mark Bowmer on Friday September 7th 2007 1:28pm
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