There’s speculation in the media as to whether next month’s Federal Budget will contain any announcements on the Government’s much anticipated infrastructure spending plans.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported last week that it was unlikely any announcements would be made ahead of the May 12 Budget. And while there was some chance of announcements in the Budget itself, the Herald claimed the Government was more likely to wait until later in the year.
According to the paper, the delay is due to a combination of the poor standard of some proposals and the worsening economic position.
Meantime, the AFR reported today comments by a senior IMF economist who says the Government is better off spending on infrastructure as an investment in economic recovery, rather than providing cash handouts.
The budgetary challenge facing the Rudd Government was made very clear in the media this week, with reports that Treasurer Wayne Swan and Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner were resigned to even larger deficits as the recession bit further into tax revenue.
In other news, the Age reported this week on a call for a new metropolitan planning authority in Melbourne, charged with making planning decisions on key public transport corridors to help deal with the city’s expected population growth over the next two decades.
And in Sydney, the Herald reported over the past week on opposition to the Rees Government’s plans to duplicate the Iron Cove Bridge in Sydney’s inner west.
Construction of the Peninsula Link project will start in months, with the Brumby Government releasing a tender for early works on the project's Lathams Road overpass near Seaford.
The works at Lathams Road will allow local jobs and opportunities within the construction industry to be created sooner than expected.
The Lathams Road overpass is the first of 18 major bridges to be constructed as part of the Peninsula Link project. The early works will involve the construction and realignment of 700m of Lathams Road between Stephenson Road and Frankston Gardens Road.
The Government has all the required environmental approvals to proceed with Lathams Road works and the project EES is expected to be complete prior to the commencement of construction.
The Lathams Road tender is available at www.tenders.vic.gov.au and will close on Wednesday, 3 June, 2009.
The first sod was turned this week on Tasmania's largest ever transport infrastructure projects - the $243 million Brighton Bypass and Transport Hub.
Tasmanian Premier, David Bartlett, said the Brighton Transport Hub would provide a modern road-rail interchange and freight distribution hub to improve the efficiency of freight movement into and out of southern Tasmania.
The projects were vital components of joint State - Federal government plans to upgrade the northern approaches to Hobart, he said.
"The investment in these projects will provide a significant stimulus to the Tasmanian construction industry and the Tasmanian economy - especially in the current economic climate."
Two joint ventures have been selected to carry out the work - VEC/Thiess has won the contract for the northern section of the bypass and John Holland/Hazell Bros the southern section, which includes the Brighton Transport Hub.
The $79 million Hub is expected to be operational by September 2011 and the $164 million Bypass is scheduled for completion by June 2012.
Representing the Federal Government, the Parliamentary Secretary for Government Service Delivery, Senator Mark Arbib, said the Rudd Labor Government's decision to bring forward funding for the Brighton Bypass demonstrated a commitment to delivering key road infrastructure projects and creating jobs during the current economic downturn.
Construction on the new Mandurah Entrance Road will start mid 2009 - a year sooner than originally planned - following the selection of preferred builders.
Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, and WA Transport Minister, Simon O'Brien, announced this week Main Roads WA was working with the preferred consortia - the Southern Gateway Alliance comprising Leighton Contractors, WA Limestone and GHD - to finalise a funding agreement.
The Mandurah Entrance Road is being jointly funded by the Australian and Western Australian governments, with each contributing $65 million.
Mr O'Brien says the Southern Gateway Alliance has a strong record on major infrastructure projects, with its work on the new Kwinana Freeway extension-Forrest Highway project due to finish within budget and ahead of schedule.
"The new seven kilometre Mandurah Entrance Road will be a key piece of infrastructure, linking the State's largest ever road project - Kwinana Freeway extension-Forrest Highway - to this major regional centre.
"We expect the new Entrance Road to open to traffic by mid 2010."
Meantime detailed planning work on the final stage of the Bunbury Port Access Road and the first stage of the Bunbury Outer Ring Road has commenced following the Federal Government's decision to bring forward the necessary funding.
The planning process - expected to be completed by the end of next year - will involve detailed design, geotechnical investigations, environmental assessments and land acquisition.
Work on Stage 1 of the Bunbury Port Access Road has been underway since February this year, with this section of the project likely to be completed by mid 2012.
The much-anticipated $119 million Townsville Ring Road was officially opened to traffic last week.
The newly-opened section of the ring road is expected to carry up to 12,000 vehicles a day, with about 10 per cent of this traffic being heavy vehicles.
The Federal Government provided $79.5 million towards the $119 million cost of the landmark project, in partnership with the Queensland Government.
Queensland Roads Minister, Craig Wallace, said about 897 direct and indirect jobs were created during the two-year construction period of stages two and three of the ring road project.
"At its peak, The Ring Road project directly generated about 300 construction-related jobs, helping boost the local economy," he said.
Meantime, the Federal Government has fast-tracked funding of $22.5 million for the Nerang South Interchange, on Queensland’s Gold Coast, to ensure the project is completed by the middle of the year.
Work on the $45 million project started in February 2008, and is being delivered in partnership with the Queensland Government.
The Australian Automobile Association (AAA) has called on the Federal Government to build safety into its road infrastructure projects to bring down the national road fatality rate, and to invest in two world-leading road safety programs – AusRAP and ANCAP.
AAA, in its Budget submission to the Government, welcomed the recent economic stimulus funding commitments for infrastructure projects and Black Spots around Australia, but urged greater consideration of safety aspects in the planning and design phases of road projects.
AAA's Executive Director, Mike Harris, said building safety into the road infrastructure would save lives and reduce road trauma – which costs the Australian economy more than $17 billion a year.
"Despite the drop in road fatalities in 2008, we still have some 1500 people die every year on Australian roads and a further 85 hospitalised each day," Mr Harris said.
"These figures are a national tragedy, and we can do something about bringing these levels of road trauma down by building safety into the road network as part of these massive infrastructure projects.
"AAA firmly believes this is an opportunity all governments – state and federal – should seize under the Nation Building Program (formerly AusLink), and we are asking for that program to be expanded to $25 billion for 2009-2014. Apart from the safety benefits, such further investment will also stimulate job creation.
"We are also asking for the Government to consider funding a $100 million per annum Black Links program, acknowledging the fact there are whole sections of road that are relatively dangerous."
AAA has also called for funding to assist the Australian Road Assessment Program (AusRAP), which star rates roads for safety (from 1 to 5 stars) to provide detailed information on the state of the national highway network and other roads, and the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), which crash tests vehicles and awards them a star rating for safety.
Significantly higher spending on major roads in recent years will result in a 3.2 per cent increase in truck and bus registration charges, says the National Transport Commission (NTC).
The revised registration charges are scheduled to apply from July 1, 2009.
Trucks and buses currently pay their fair share of road and bridge upgrades through a two-part Federal fuel-based charge and state-based registration fees.
An annual adjustment considers changes in road expenditure and vehicle use to ensure trucks and buses do not pay too much, or too little, for using the road network. This fulfils a Council of Australian Government (COAG) directive to ensure ongoing cost recovery.
The NTC has been asked by the Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Anthony Albanese, to commence a separate consultation process on the fuel-based road user charge.
A full explanation of the 2009 annual adjustment calculation, including the proposed new rate and information relied on to determine that rate has been published to support fair and transparent consultation.
It is proposed that the new rate charge of 21.7 cents per litre will apply from 1 July 2009. Formal public comments on the road user charge annual adjustment are sought by 19 May, 2009.
For more information, go to the NTC website.
A recent final report on South Australia’s voluntary travel behaviour change project, TravelSmart, has revealed the project achieved a marked reduction in car travel by participants.
The TravelSmart Households in the West Project, an initiative of the SA Department of Transport, Energy and Infrastructure, commenced in 2005 with the aim of reducing private car usage by encouraging behavioural change, with the overall goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The outcomes of the project were outlined at a recent meeting of Roads Australia’s Congestion Policy Chapter as an indicator of the success that can be achieved by such targetted behavioural change programs.
Roads Australia’s Congestion Policy Chapter is promoting TravelSmart initiatives within its membership as part of a drive to reduce Australia’s urban congestion.
The SA project targeted suburbs in Adelaide’s west, home to 13 per cent of the city’s population. A widespread communications strategy set out to encourage people to reduce their dependancy on their cars in favour of more environmentally sustainable travel and transport choices.
The final report, released in January this year, revealed an average reduction in car kilometres travelled by participants of 18 per cent, while public transport usage in the targeted areas rose by six per cent p.a.
Furthermore, the project was shown to have had a positive effect in reducing both the average number of trips per day and the average distance travelled daily by participants over the evaluation period.
For a copy of the final evaluation report, go to the DTEI website.
Submitted by Mark Bowmer on Friday April 24th 2009 11:39am
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