Roads Australia
Safety has been the predominant road news story of the past fortnight.
The national Easter road toll was reported as 23 - four down on last year. NSW fared best with zero fatalities (reportedly its best result since 1949), while Queensland recorded seven fatalities, WA six, Victoria five, Tasmania three, and SA and NT one each.
Yet another tragic level crossing accident in Victoria cast the media spotlight on this issue, with the Herald Sun carrying comments by State Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky suggesting the Government may ask local councils to close quieter roads with level crossings.
A report in today’s Herald Sun, citing Monash University research, said reducing urban speed limits from 60 to 50kmh could save 150 lives over the next decade without significantly impacting on travel times.
The Age also reported this week that speed cameras had played a significant role in cutting Victoria’s road toll, with average speed limits in Melbourne’s 60 and 70kmh zones falling below the limits for the first time on record.
In other news, the Courier Mail reported this week that the Federal Government would earmark $10 billion in the forthcoming Budget for its Building Australia Fund to address road and rail infrastructure upgrades.
And the Age reported last week that Transfield Services and ConnectEast Chairman Tony Shepherd had called for consideration of a congestion tax for central Melbourne.
The legislation to establish Infrastructure Australia successfully passed through Parliament on March 20.
While the Government has already announced the appointment of Sir Rod Eddington as Chairman of the new body, the full make-up of the 12-member Council is yet to be finalised. It is understood that an announcement will be made in coming weeks.
The legislation establishes the Infrastructure Australia Council as a statutory independent body with experienced members to be drawn from industry and government.
Once the Council is in place, Infrastructure Australia’s first tasks will be to:
Infrastructure Australia will also provide advice on regulatory reforms which the Government says will help improve the use of existing infrastructure, streamline planning approvals and unlock billions of dollars of new investment.
Sydney has seen the unveiling of two major transport visions in the past fortnight - one from the State Government and the other from the City of Sydney.
On March 18 Premier Morris Iemma revealed the Government’s plans for a $12 billion Euuropean-style metro rail line to service growth areas from the CBD to the city’s north-west.
And this week Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore unveiled her Council’s vision for the city’s future.
The State Government’s North West Metro line is the first project in the Sydney Link plan, and will run underground from the city, beneath Victoria Road towards Top Ryde, and then via Epping to Castle Hill, Norwest and Rouse Hill.
The Premier said construction would commence from both ends in 2010 with the first trains operating between Epping and the Hills Centre by 2015.
He described the Government’s long-term plans - which include an M4 extension, the South West Rail Link and possible future metro to the West and the South East - as the biggest transport infrastructure program in Australia’s history.
Meantime the City of Sydney’s 2030: Sustainable Sydney plan canvassed a range of measures to manage and reduce vehicle traffic congestion, including a reduction of parking space and development of traffic precincts.
The 2030 plan also left the door open for congestion charging, with an undertaking to investigate transport pricing mechanisms to encourage sustainable travel-taking.
The plan noted that “pricing is an effective way to influence travel choices.
“Options identified during consultation...include targeted parking charges, cordon pricing, congestion pricing, single perimeter parking/public transport fees and restructured tolls.
“The City of Sydney can play a role in developing pricing mechanisms that encourage sustainable travel while understanding their economic, equity, financial and environmental impacts.”
For more information on the State Government’s plans, go to www.sydlink.com.au
For information on the City of Sydney 2030 Sustainable Sydney plan, go to www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan has yet again reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to investing in the nation's infrastructure in a key post-COAG speech in Melbourne this week.
Addressing the 2008 Economic and Social Outlook Conference, Mr Swan said this week’s COAG meeting marked a new era of reform he dubbed ‘Modern Federalism’.
This was evidenced by the adoption of ‘a new architecture of cooperative funding arrangements that will replace the inefficient and complex system of tied grants that has plagued areas of joint involvement in the delivery of services for decades.’
“Under the old system, the States received GST and around 90 different specific purpose payments (SPPs),” Mr Swan said.
“Under the new arrangements, they will continue to receive all GST revenue, but the SPPs will be rationalised into a small number of national specific purpose payments; some general revenue assistance; and the new National Partnerships payments.”
Addressing the infrastructure challenge facing the Commonwealth, Mr Swan said well‑planned investment in, and efficient use of, economic infrastructure was critical to taking the economy forward.
“Infrastructure investment to address current bottlenecks should not just be a quick fix that transfers problems to other parts of a supply chain,” he said.
“Future needs and priorities must be recognised and attended to on an integrated basis and with better coordination by governments and industry.
“Through the COAG process, and together with Infrastructure Australia, for the first time ever this country will have an integrated, coordinated infrastructure priority list for every corner of this country.
“The pipeline of projects created through Infrastructure Australia's priority list will assist governments to match billions of investment dollars to infrastructure priorities.
“It will also provide the construction, development and financing sectors with the long‑term certainty they need to make best use of skills and resources.”
For the full text of Mr Swan’s speech, go to the Treasurer’s website.
Red light and speed camera fines will help fund $54 million worth of vital road projects targeting Queensland's road toll.
Main Roads Minister Warren Pitt announced last week that $31 million in traffic camera fine revenue, boosted by another $23 million from Main Roads, would be invested in road improvements under the Safer Roads Sooner program.
Mr Pitt said 90 new high priority projects across Queensland had been approved by the Safer Roads Sooner Advisory Committee, which includes key stakeholders from major road safety groups.
The 88 new SRS projects and two new targeted action programs to take place primarily in 2009-10 include:
Mr Pitt said locations with a serious crash history or that had been identified as having a potential problem were prioritised for Safer Roads Sooner funding.
The International Road Federation (IRF) is current accepting entries for the 2008 Global Road Achievement Awards (GRAA).
The competition honors and recognise road industry projects that demonstrate excellence and innovation in road development worldwide.
ARF members Queensland Main Roads and Maunsell, together with the ARF itself, are recent recipients of the awards.
The competition is open to both IRF members and non-members and there is no limit to the number of entries an organisation may submit.
This year, the IRF will be accepting awards submissions in each of the following categories:
Applications must be received by IRF no later than May 30, 2008. To inquire about the GRAA Competition or to obtain a copy of the 2008 Application, email Magid Elabyad at the IRF. Applications are also available on the GRAA web page.
Submitted by Mark Bowmer on Saturday March 29th 2008 10:37am
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