Roads Australia
Media reporting on the latest labour market figures has provided some glimmer of light in what has otherwise been a dour news week.
Responding to the better-than-expected job figures for January, most commentators seem to have drawn the conclusion that employers, having worked so hard to find good employees in recent years, are at present reluctant to let them go.
How long this will last is the million dollar question.
Today’s Fin Review said Australia had, by and large, held steady on jobs and so far avoided the massive job losses seen overseas.
The Age, quoting economists, attributed the better-than-expected January figures to the boost provided by December’s stimulus package.
But on the other side of the ledger, the Age also noted that a Westpac Melbourne Institute survey this month revealed near-record pessimism about unemployment.
And the SMH was also less optimistic. Its take was that despite the good January job numbers the trend remained ‘grim’, pointing to the rising unemployment rate.
In other news, the SMH reported this week on figures from the NSW Transport Data Centre that revealed Sydney’s car mindset was still as strong as ever, with around half the commuters from inner city ‘wealthy’ suburbs favouring their cars over public transport despite being a short bus ride from the CBD.
Planning approval had been granted for the major upgrade of the Pacific Highway between Sapphire and Woolgoolga, on the NSW north coast, with tenders to be called in mid 2009 and work expected to start early next year.
The project will upgrade about 25 kilometres of the Highway to a dual carriageway between Sapphire to Arrawarra Beach Road, north of Woolgoolga.
Key features of the project are:
- Gaudrons Road/Split Solitary Road, Sapphire;
- Moonee Beach Road/Hoys Road, Moonee Beach;
- Fiddaman Road/Graham Drive South, Emerald;
- Graham Drive North/Hearnes Lake Road, south Woolgoolga; and
- Arrawarra Beach Road, Arrawarra.
NSW Roads Minister, Michael Daley, says the improvements will improve driving conditions, cut travel times and save lives.
“A range of measures will be undertaken to reduce the project’s environmental, noise and visual impacts, with the opportunity being taken to stage its construction,” the Minister says.
“What’s more, the rest area originally proposed for Arrawarra is now under review, with further public consultations about its location to be held early next year.”
Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, says this is the latest instalment from the multi-billion investment being made by the Rudd Labor Government in the Highway.
All up, the Government is investing more than $2.64 billion over the next six years to continue the upgrade of the Highway.
For more information go to www.rta.nsw.gov.au/pacific
Seven key roads have been added to the National Land Transport Network.
The roads approved for inclusion on the Network are:
Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, says the national road network is central to the Government’s nation building agenda and Australia’s international competitiveness.
“Although the national network accounts for only three per cent of Australia’s total road length, it carries 15 per cent of all traffic and 18 per cent of the country’s freight – and the demands on it are predicted to grow significantly in coming decades,” he says.
Minister Albanese says the Government has committed $24.2 billion to roads spending for the period between 2008/09 and 2013/14.
“Our much larger roads budget will fund routine maintenance as well as upgrades to poorly designed and congested sections of the network – which in turn will lower transport costs, cut travel times, reduce carbon emissions and saves lives,” he says.
The road funding elements announced in the Rudd Government’s latest economic stimulus package are a welcome boost to safety and maintenance spending, says Roads Australia.
RA President, Ray Fisher, says the $150m boost to spending on backlog maintenance on the national highway network is particularly important - not just in terms of the works it will deliver in the short term, but in the message it sends that this Government understands we need to get serious about road maintenance.
“The road maintenance task across Australia, particularly in regional areas, is huge and we cannot afford to fall further behind,” Mr Fisher says.
“Having a well-maintained, fit-for-purpose road network is crucial to maximizing the efficient utlisation of what is Australia’s most valuable infrastructure asset.
“The maintenance task, particularly in the public’s mind, is all too often overshadowed by the debate about new road infrastructure. We need to refocus their attention on this pressing challenge.
“To that end, we welcome the latest funding boost and urge the Government to continue to step up investment in road maintenance across the network.”
Roads Australia members CCF, ALGA and AAA have also broadly welcomed the Government’s $42 billion stimulus package.
As part of the package announced last week, the Government has set aside $890 million to protect jobs by improving community infrastructure and safety on the nation’s roads.
The funding covers:
EastLink is relieving traffic pressure on arterial roads and significantly reducing congestion on the surrounding road network, Victorian Roads and Ports Minister Tim Pallas said last week.
Mr Pallas said new analysis showed that EastLink was having the predicted impact on the road network, with more vehicles making use of the toll road, therefore reducing traffic volumes on roads around the new motorway.
“Significant traffic reductions have been recorded on Springvale Road (up to 25 per cent less), Stud Road (up to 30 per cent less), Mitcham Road (up to 20 per cent less) and Blackburn Road (up to 20 per cent less),” Mr Pallas said.
“Some roads have seen slight reductions, while others have seen a predicted increase in traffic volume – addressed in proposed works as part of the Government’s $38 billion Victorian Transport Plan to reduce congestion.”
Mr Pallas said that as predicted in transport modelling, the Eastern Freeway had experienced some associated increases in traffic volumes, however, there had been little change at the Hoddle Street end with only a slight increase of less than one per cent.
“As part of the Victorian Transport Plan, the Brumby Government has allocated $5 million for engineering investigations to determine the feasibility of grade separating key intersections on Hoddle Street,” he said.
“This road is critical to north-south traffic movements and to the flow of Eastern Freeway traffic to and from the CBD.”
Transfield Services has announced a new five-year US$31 million contract with long-term client, Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX).
Transfield Services’ wholly-owned subsidiary VMS Inc (now re-branded Transfield Services) has provided asset management, toll operation, incident management and building maintenance services to MDX since 2001.
Transfield Services North America President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Joseph Sadatmehr, said today: “The MDX system is essential infrastructure that links Miami-Dade County to the rest of Southern Florida. We provide essential operations, maintenance and upgrade services to assist in the safe travel of more than six million vehicles that use these roadways every month.”
Transfield Services provides services to other essential transport infrastructure globally, including EastLink, CityLink and the Lane Cove Tunnel tollroads in Australia, Lyttelton Tunnel in New Zealand, and to expressways and state and federal roads in five US states and Washington DC.
The following stories appear courtesy of World Highways.
South Africa's financing plan
South Africa is setting out a programme for highway financing. The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) plans to finance its highway construction projects by raising US$2.52 billion in debt. During three months to April 2009, bonds will be issued by Sanral.
Indonesia builds roads to stave off recession
Indonesia's Public Works Ministry has been given a budget of $1.52 billion to finance infrastructure projects as a means of stimulating the economy during the current economic downturn. Last year, the Ministry has a budget of $1.44 billion. In mid-January, around 22.5% of all road projects, worth an estimated $340 million, had been put out to tender. Another series of tenders worth a combined $215 million are due to be issued soon.
For more road news from around the world, visit the World Highways website.
Submitted by Mark Bowmer on Friday February 13th 2009 1:56pm
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