Infrastructure has been under the media microscope over the past fortnight, with questions asked about funding and project delivery.
In a front-page article this week, the Australian Financial Review reported the Federal Government had so far deposited only $10 billion in its three national building funds.
The Fin Review quoted Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, as saying $12.6 billion would be deposited into the Building Australia Fund by the end of June – but, says the paper, with $4.7 billion supposedly earmarked for a national broadband network, only $8 billion remains to fund the first round of projects currently under consideration by Infrastructure Australia.
Meantime, earlier this week the Fin Review reported that Queensland-based construction companies were seeking commitments for the State’s steady flow of infrastructure projects to be maintained to cushion the industry from job and skill losses.
In NSW, the Daily Telegraph reported NSW Government plans to build an expansive Sydney Links Motorway had been shelved last year because of the potential electoral damage of tunnelling under Labor electorates. In response, NSW Roads Minister Michael Daley told the media the only thing stopping the Government building the M4 East extension was the availability of funding.
And in Queensland, where voters go to the polls on March 21, Premier Anna Bligh defended her Government’s record on infrastructure delivery in a report in The Australian.
The first major section to be upgraded in Victoria’s $2.25 billion Western Ring Road project will be between the Tullamarine Freeway and Sydney Road.
The announcement was made this week by Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, and Victorian Roads and Ports Minister, Tim Pallas.
Mr Pallas said VicRoads would invite industry to submit proposals to deliver the section of works in partnership with the Brumby Government.
“The aim is to have an alliance contract in place in July so construction can get underway by early 2010,” Mr Pallas said.
The Western Ring Road is part of the M80, which spans 38 kilometres from the Princes Freeway at Laverton to the Greensborough Highway at Greensborough.
The upgrade to the entire M80 Ring Road is expected to take more than five years, with the most congested sections being worked on first.
“Up to 16 per cent of traffic on the M80 is freight, which means it is a vital distribution link between Melbourne, the Port of Melbourne, the airports, regional Victoria and interstate locations - this upgrade will provide an important boost for these transport links,” Mr Pallas said.
Early works on the upgrade were announced by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Premier John Brumby in December last year.
Construction has already started on adding an extra lane to the M80, Altona-bound from the Deer Park Bypass to Boundary Road. These works are on track to be completed by mid-2009.
The M80 Ring Road Upgrade is jointly funded by the Victorian and Australian governments.
A green light has been given to start a $4.5 million planning study to identify the preferred route for Adelaide’s north-south corridor along South Road, between the Port River Expressway and Grand Junction Road.
The planning study is part of the $12.6 million brought forward in the May 2008 Federal Budget to make an early start on planning works on South Road.
South Australian Minister for Transport, Patrick Conlon, says the upgrade will create a non-stop two-kilometre corridor along the existing alignment of South Road, utilising grade separation at South Terrace, the Wingfield railway line, Cormack Road and Grand Junction Road.
The planning study will be jointly undertaken by Connell Wagner, QED and GHD, and will be completed by April 2010, Mr Conlon said.
The Federal Government has committed to $500 million in funding between now and 2014 towards construction of South Road flyovers at the major bottlenecks at Grand Junction Road; Cormack Road and the Wingfield railway line; and Sturt Road.
The commitment includes $70 million to plan for a traffic light free road all the way from the Southern Expressway to the Port River Expressway.
Work to widen and upgrade a 25-kilometre section of the Great Northern Highway will start next month.
Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, and his WA counterpart, Simon O'Brien, announced last week a $15.28 million construction contract for works on the 4.3km metropolitan section of Great Northern Highway had been awarded to Highway Construction Pty Ltd.
Mr Albanese said the Great Northern Highway was a critical part of the National Highway (Route 1), connecting Perth to the northern regions of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
"However, the existing Highway between Lennard Street and Muchea is too narrow to support expected traffic volumes, particularly the growing number of trucks using it," said Mr Albanese.
Between now and 2031, the number of cars, trucks and buses using this section of the Great Northern Highway is expected to jump by almost 60 per cent from 16,000 to 25,000.
Mr O'Brien said the road would be widened and include two 3.5 metre lanes - one in each direction - separated by a 3.5 metre median, greatly benefiting cyclists and the movement of heavy vehicles.
The Victorian Government will spend more than $2.4 million on 25 new Closed Circuit Televisions (CCTV) cameras to be installed at critical locations to help improve traffic monitoring and management of Melbourne’s road network.
Roads and Ports Minister Tim Pallas said last week the new cameras were in addition to the 12 CCTV cameras that have been installed around Melbourne’s metropolitan tram network to provide enhanced traffic monitoring on key tram routes.
“These new CCTV cameras will enable a rapid, more effective response to managing problems on our roads. They will boost the existing traffic monitoring network linked to VicRoads’ Traffic Management Centre, providing real-time traffic flow information to operational staff,” Mr Pallas said.
“The CCTV cameras will be operational by mid-2009.”
Nominations are now open for the John Shaw Medal, the Australian road industry’s most prestigious award for individual achievement.
The Medal will again be presented at a special Award Dinner in Sydney on July 28, held in conjunction with the two-day Roads Australia National Roads Summit.
Named in honour of former NSW Commissioner of Main Roads and Australian Road Federation president, John Shaw, the Medal has a long history and is seen as one of the most significant achievements in the Australian road transport sector.
Recipients are chosen from an esteemed panel of previous winners, and the medal is only awarded in years where the panel believes a candidate of sufficient merit has been nominated.
In 2008, the Medal was awarded to RACV Managing Director and CEO, Colin Jordan, and in 2007 to His Excellency Dr Ken Michael AC, Governor of Western Australia and a former Commissioner of Main Roads for WA.
A full list of past winners, together with information on criteria for the Award, can be viewed on this website.
Further information is also available from RA Chief Executive, Ian Webb, at ian@roads.org.au
Nominations for the 2009 Award close on April 30.
The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) 2009 Toll Road Summit of Australia, New Zealand and the Asia Pacific Rim will be held at the Sydney Hilton from March 15 to 18.
Hosted by Transurban, the summit is IBTTA’s first conference in Australia. It will tap into the explosive growth of tolling in Australia, New Zealand and other countries in the Asia Pacific Rim.
A major focus of the summit will be the Australian experience in toll concessions and operations, including the political, regulatory, public affairs and customer service aspects of startup and mature facilities; and lessons learned from successive implementation of all electronic toll collection.
The summit includes a social program and technical tours.
For more information, including online registration, go to the IBTTA website.
The Australian Logistics Council (ALC) has released a National Logistics Safety Code.
According to ALC Chief Executive, Hal Morris, the industry based Code will, for the first time, enable businesses in the supply chain to access a best practice, auditable framework setting out their responsibilities under road transport laws and OH&S legislation.
“The NLSC applies to all players in the supply chain as safety is everyone’s responsibility,” Mr Morris said.
The NLSC does not replace other industry codes, instead it is designed to work with them to strengthen safety compliance in the T&L industry.
The new Code has been welcomed by National Transport Commission (NTC) Chief Executive, Nick Dimopoulos.
For more information, go to the ALC website.
The Roads Australia Capacity Policy Chapter attracted 50 representatives from some 20 organisations at a workshop hosted by the Queensland Department of Main Roads in Brisbane last week.
Director General of Queensland Main Roads, Chairman of Austroads and Roads Australia Board Member, Alan Tesch, opened the workshop, which focussed on the benefits of reliable streams of work and capability/capacity in infrastructure delivery.
Meantime in Melbourne last week, VIcRoads hosted a meeting of the Congestion Policy Chapter, where 30 members from 16 organisations shared industry knowledge on congestion mitigation strategies.
VicRoads Chief Executive Gary Liddle said at the meeting that congestion was a key focus nationally for transport ministers. The workshop identified ways Roads Australia and its members could impact on congestion, including promoting the issue at a state and national level.
Submitted by Mark Bowmer on Friday February 27th 2009 1:32pm
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