Roads Australia
The question of how to better manage congestion on peak city road infrastructure has attracted media attention in Sydney and Brisbane in the past fortnight.
On the eve of the Harbour Tunnel going cashless last weekend, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on a proposal by transport consultant Ken Dobinson, a former RTA director, to allow a southbound bus lane on the Harbour Bridge to be shared by drivers willing to pay a range of higher tolls for the benefit of a freer run.
Mr Dobinson told the Herald it was an ideal time to consider a lane sharing system on the Bridge, saying it would be easy to implement and could raise revenue for public transport.
Meantime in Queensland, the Sunday Mail reported on RACQ findings that Brisbane roads were now in grid lock on weekends for the first time, and that the peak periods during the week were getting longer. A booming population and the dramatic jump in vehicle registrations over recent years were blamed for the problem.
In other news, the Courier Mail today reported that the State Government had put in a bid for $30 billion in AusLink funding.
And in Melbourne, the Herald Sun has reported that Lindsay Fox's Avalon Airport has called for a major expansion of the West Gate Freeway in its submission to the Eddington Inquiry into Melbourne’s east-west transport corridor. The Herald Sun says the Inquiry has received a total of 129 submissions.
A major upgrade of the Western Ring Road leads the Bracks Government’s $11.5 billion vision for Victoria’s road and rail infrastructure under AusLink 2.
Minister for Roads and Ports, Tim Pallas, said last week the upgrade to the Western Ring Road would cost an estimated $2.2 billion and involve the construction of an extra lane in each direction on the freeway plus the installation of traffic management systems, such as ramp metering.
Mr Pallas said the Western Ring Road upgrade was one of 30 projects proposed in National Transport Links - Growing Victoria’s Economy, Victoria’s roads funding request to the Commonwealth Government’s five-year AusLink 2 program.
Others projects included:
“In an unprecedented move the Bracks Government is making a commitment now to invest 25 percent in this major infrastructure package (estimated to be up to $11.5 billion) if the Federal Government will give Victoria a share of road and rail funding that reflects Victoria’s economic importance,” Mr Pallas said.
“Victoria generates 25 per cent of Australia’s Gross Domestic Product, is home to 25 per cent of Australia’s population, and contributes 25 per cent of fuel excise collected by the Federal Government – yet recently we have received only 16.5 per cent of Commonwealth transport funding.
“We look forward to working with the Commonwealth to see which of these projects get the green light with Victoria’s fair share of AusLink 2 funding.”
The Victorian Transport Association has welcomed the Government’s transport funding vision, but stressed that the projects must be underpinned by a complete transport infrastructure plan for Victoria and Australia.
A full list of all 30 transport projects as part of National Transport Links - Growing Victoria’s Economy can be found at: http://www.doi.vic.gov.au.
Deputy Prime Minister and Federal Transport Minister Mark Vaile has released the details of the new B-Triple road network that comes into effect this month.
The network allows B-Triples to operate on carefully selected routes in Queensland, South Australia, the Northern Territory, Western Australia and NSW. They will not be able to operate to the east of the Newell Highway in NSW or on the highway, except between Narrabri and the Queensland border.
Announcing the network, Mr Vaile said the Federal Government would continue working with the states and the NT to extend the B-Triple network, including through its bilateral discussions on AusLink 2.
Mr Vaile said B-Triples were safer and greener than many of the vehicles in Australia's existing transport fleet.
“Two B-Triples can do the work of five semi-trailers, take up much less space on the road, and emit much less carbon into the atmosphere,” he said.
Meantime the NRMA says safer trucks, safer roads and better driver education are needed before B-Triples are allowed on NSW highways.
NRMA Director Graham Blight says that while there are economic arguments supporting the need for these trucks, this cannot overshadow legitimate safety concerns.
"NRMA members regularly express their fear of large trucks, finding them threatening and sometimes dangerous. The addition of B-Triples, in the absence of any safety commitment, will heighten these concerns," he says.
The NRMA has released a plan to prepare for B-Triples coming onto NSW roads. For more information, go to
http://www.mynrma.com.au/cps/rde/xchg/mynrma/hs.xsl/5504.htm?cpssessionid=SID-3F5768EC-632C49E9
To view the Minister’s statement and the B-Triple network maps, go to http://www.ministers.dotars.gov.au/mv/releases/2007/July/114MV_2007.htm
A number of ARF members have recently announced changes in their senior management structures.
Tim Boyle has been appointed global Chief Operating Officer of Sinclair Knight Merz.
Mr Boyle, who is also a Board Member of the Australian Road Forum, will focus on the day-to-day operations of the Group. SKM’s five Business Unit General Managers and the Area Managers for Europe and the Asia Pacific will now report directly to him.
A company statement said the appointment would allow SKM CEO, Paul Dougas, to devote more time and energy to the development of Senior Executives for succession of the leadership team, provide leadership to change management and lead mergers and acquisitions.
Prior to his appointment as global COO, Mr Boyle was SKM’s General Manager, Infrastructure.
Terry Petersen replaces Mr Boyle in the role of General Manager, Infrastructure, while Graeme Booth will replace Mr Petersen in the role of Regional Manager, NSW.
Elsewhere, Connell Wagner has appointed Paul Hardy as Executive Chairman following the retirement of Robert Squire. At the same time, Anthony Barry has been appointed Managing Director. He has moved to Melbourne to take up the new position from Sydney where he was Region Manager, NSW.
And BIS Shrapnel has also announced a change at the helm with the appointment of Robert Mellor as Managing Director. He takes over from Gary Tilsley, who has stepped down after more than 26 years in the job. Mr Mellor is the former director of building and construction and becomes only the fourth managing director of the company in 43 years.
Senior project manager, Jason Anderson, will manage the day-to-day running of the building and construction unit, though Mr Mellor will still be closely involved in the forecasting.
The Australian Road Forum has welcomed ConnectEast as its newest member.
ConnectEast is the owner and operator of Australia’s largest road project, Melbourne’s EastLink tollway, due to open in 2008. In the space of two and a half years, ConnectEast has grown to become a top 150 ASX-listed company, managing the delivery of the EastLink project.
ConnectEast now has more than 80 staff and this will increase next year to around 300 people to manage the day-to-day operations and customer service requirements for the 39 km tollway.
The future headquarters of ConnectEast along with operations centre is in Ringwood, with staff expected to gradually move in over the coming months. ConnectEast’s current home at Pinewood Shopping Centre, Mount Waverley will remain the base for customer service operations.
ConnectEast’s investor profile has been growing steadily since the company’s public listing in late 2004. It now has approximately 25,000 investors, with more than 13,000 of these living in Victoria - including around 3,000 investors who reside in suburbs along the EastLink route.
The Federal Government is contributing $50,000 for a scoping study aimed at establishing a National Research Centre to improve the safety and efficiency of heavy transport vehicles. The Centre is to be located at the Vermont South site of ARRB Group.
The proposed Centre will capitalise on ARRB’s advanced capabilities in road safety, traffic and vehicle simulation, performance testing and design.
Announcing the funding grant, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer, Chris Pearce MP, said the Australian road transport industry had to operate within a difficult and demanding environment, and overseas transport research results were often not very applicable to Australian circumstances.
“Research on heavy vehicle performance and safety issues is actively going on, but separately in various areas of Australian industry, government and academia. We need initiatives such as the proposed Centre to coordinate and focus the research, for more effective outcomes and to avoid waste,” Mr Pearce said.
Some priority areas for further heavy vehicle research are the driving task in remote areas; the factors in and management of fatigue in the driving task; and the complex interactions between the driver, the vehicle, the road and other road users, particularly in suburban and congested areas.
Mr Pearce noted that as much of this research cannot be performed ‘live’ on the road safely and legally, the Centre would include a state-of-the-art ‘heavy vehicle simulator’ to facilitate such research under safe conditions by ARRB and other interested parties.
The Australian Government support will combine with similar assistance from the state road authorities to enable ARRB (with government and industry guidance) to proceed with the scoping study. The study will determine the Centre’s role, management framework, research priorities and resources, expected outputs and mechanisms for effective collaboration / participation with industry.
It is expected to be completed in August this year.
The National Transport Commission (NTC) has released the 2007 Heavy Vehicle Charges Determination draft Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) for public consultation.
The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) and Australian Transport Council (ATC) directed the NTC to remove cross-subsidies between vehicle classes. This has resulted in a re-balancing of heavy vehicle charges, with some registration costs falling and others increasing.
Registration fees for more than 38 per cent of heavy vehicles - including 48,000 six-axle semi-trailers - will reduce. However, the 9-axle B-double faces a $7,045 registration fee increase phased-in over three years to remove existing vehicle cross-subsidies.
Road use charges (the net fuel excise) for all heavy vehicles will increase by 1.367 cents per litre; adding 1.3 per cent to total fuel costs.
The draft 2007 Charges Determination requires heavy vehicles to pay $1.83 billion a year towards total road spending costs of $11.04 billion.
The Regulatory Impact Statement is available on the NTC website for download at www.ntc.gov.au. It is accompanied by a technical document outlining the methodology and calculations.
Written submissions are sought by 30 July 2007. Key stakeholders are also invited to attend a series of focus groups around Australia. The NTC will report on the outcomes of public consultation at the November 2007 ATC meeting.
The Victorian Government has announced the awarding of a $42 million contract as part of the one billion dollar Monash-CityLink-West Gate upgrade project.
The Minister for Roads and Ports, Tim Pallas,announced last week that Negri Contractors (Vic) was awarded the contract to provide an additional traffic lane in each direction between Warrigal Road and Jacksons Road.
“The Monash-CityLink-West Gate corridor is the state’s busiest road and the project to upgrade it will not only improve safety but also increase the efficiency of the road,” Mr Pallas said.
The billion dollar project includes:
“In awarding this contract we take an important step in the construction of this upgrade,” Mr Pallas said.
“The extra lanes will be constructed in the centre of the existing freeway, and will include the widening of the Ferntree Gully Road bridge.”
Mr Pallas said construction works were expected to commence later this year.
Two of South Australia’s key strategic transport projects have reached significant milestones as they progress toward major construction.
Minister for Transport, Patrick Conlon, last week approved the final route of the Northern Expressway and announced the design and construction contractor for the South Road/ANZAC Highway underpass.
Confirmation of the Northern Expressway alignment follows the release of a Supplement Report to the Environmental Report made available for public comment in March this year.
The State Government is continuing negotiations with the Federal Government to reach a funding agreement for the expressway.
Meanwhile work has stepped up on the South Road/ANZAC Highway underpass project after the awarding of the $58 million construction contract to the Thiess Leed joint venture.
Thiess Pty Ltd has joined forces with South Australian company Leed Engineering and Construction to reconstruct the intersection by taking South Road under ANZAC Highway.
In other SA news, the State Government says it will spend $11.6 million dollars on road safety measures across South Australia’s regional road network this financial year.
The Government has committed $4.4 million to a new Rural Road Safety Program, while a further $7.2 million has been allocated for 2007/08 to the existing Shoulder Sealing Program.
Road Safety Minister, Carmel Zollo says the funding is designed to address a worrying statistic that reveals almost 60 per cent of fatal and casualty crashes in South Australia over the past five years occurred on rural roads.
The Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation is holding free research symposiums on safety and innovation in Brisbane and Melbourne this month.
The Brisbane symposium is on this Tuesday (July 17) at the Conrad Treasury Hotel, and the Melbourne symposium is on Tuesday July 24 at the Melbourne Town Hall.
Both programs run for three hours, starting at 2pm, and will focus on safety code, regulatory and workplace culture issues.
For more information and to register go to http://www.construction-innovation.info/index.php?id=52
Submitted by Mark Bowmer on Friday July 13th 2007 3:31pm
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