Roads Australia
Road congestion has again been in the news in Sydney, with a report that the State Government is boosting resources to deal with the ongoing challenge of peak hour traffic.
The Daily Telegraph reported this week that the Transport Management Centre was being upgraded to allow it to operate in special event conditions for every peak hour.
In Brisbane, news of the appointment of a contractor for upgrade works on the Pacific Motorway (see story below) was overshadowed by the Courier Mail’s focus on the likely disruption to motorists caused by the construction work.
The Courier Mail also reported this week that construction of the Toowoomba Bypass had been been pushed back at least five years in the latest South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Program because of a lack of Federal funding. The Mail did, however, acknowledge that the Bruce Highway upgrade had been brought forward.
The Mail also ran a report this week critical of the community consultation process on the Airport Link project.
In Adelaide, the Advertiser quoted a visiting US traffic accident researcher as saying roads should be built in such a way as to restrict vehicles from driving too fast, rather than laying the blame for road deaths at the feet of speeding drivers.
And the Australian newspaper reported last week that the rapid progress of a number of major road projects in WA was outstripping the supply of bitumen, resulting in a state-wide shortage.
Construction companies interested in designing and building the $618 million Kempsey Bypass have until July 30 to submit their best bid under the tender process being conducted by the NSW RTA.
The new 14.5 kilometre dual carriageway will be delivered under an Alliance between the RTA and the successful private sector tenderer.
The RTA is already carrying out preconstruction activities such as geotechnical investigations and property acquisitions.
Full construction is scheduled to start in early 2010.
Key features of the project are:
The existing Pacific Highway will be retained as a local road.
A separate tendering process will be undertaken later this year for a bridge contractor.
The Bypass was announced in the May Federal Budget as part of the Rudd Government’s multi-billion dollar investment in Network 1 (N1). By 2014, 85 per cent of this key route between Melbourne and Brisbane will be fully duplicated, the Government says.
Pacific CBR, a joint venture between Bielby Holdings, J F Hull Holdings and Albem Operations, has been chosen as the contractor for construction of the Pacific Motorway Upgrade from Springwood south to Daisy Hill.
Making the announcement last week, Queensland Main Roads Minister, Craig Wallace, said major construction could begin as soon as October, with early works expected to begin in the next few weeks.
The $442 million upgrade is part of a joint State-Federal package for the Pacific Motorway from the Gateway to Tugun, worth a total of $910 million.
Within the 3.3-kilometre section from Springwood south to Daisy Hill, the motorway will be upgraded with heavy-duty asphalt overlay, the Loganlea Road interchange will be replaced, and improvements will be made to the Paradise Road roundabout.
Meantime, the Federal and State governments have also turned the first sod to mark the start of construction on the $80 million Varsity Lakes Interchange (Exit 85) upgrade on the Pacific Motorway.
Probuild Civil (Qld) was awarded the construction contract for this project in early June.
Austroads launched its full suite of road industry guides at the ARRB offices in Melbourne this month.
The guides have been five years in the making and involved the contributions of over 300 people.
Austroads says the guides have been developed to update methods and processes that have been previously documented, as well as encompassing new technologies and procedures. In their entirety they cover the complete gamut of road design, construction, maintenance and operation, and provide cutting edge and contemporary information regarding the road network.
Around 200 people attended the launch this month, with overviews presented of five of the guides (Road Safety, Asset Management, Road Design, Pavement Technology and Traffic Management).
Austroads says all road agencies across Australasia have agreed to adopt the guides, which is a positive step towards further consistency and harmonisation.
To view or purchase Austroads publications, visit the Austroads website.
Both the Queensland and South Australian governments have unveiled major planning blueprints that involve significant investments in infrastructure.
Qld Minister for Infrastructure and Planning, Stirling Hinchliffe, this week released an update of the Government’s $124 billion infrastructure plan for South East Queensland, the South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Program 2009-2026 (SEQIPP).
Mr Hinchcliffe said the updated plan added 32 new projects at an extra cost of $1.9 billion.
“And in the next 12 months the outlay on crucial building projects will rise by $5.8 billion to $22.2 billion, creating 45,000 new jobs,” he said.
First released in 2005, SEQIPP outlines the government’s infrastructure priorities to support and implement the award-winning SEQ Regional Plan. SEQIPP is underpinned by funding from all levels of government and the private sector.
It includes; $94.6 billion in road, rail and public transport projects and studies, $12.5 billion in social and community infrastructure, $4.6 billion in water infrastructure, $3.3 billion in energy and $9.1 billion in completed projects.
The South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Program 2009-2026 is available from the Department of Infrastructure and Planning website www.dip.qld.gov.au.
Meantime, in South Australia the Minister for Urban Planning and Development, Paul Holloway, earlier this month unveiled the 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide.
“The Plan for Greater Adelaide addresses the challenges of population growth, an ageing population, climate change, technological change, environmental preservation, economic growth and growing global interdependence,” the Minister said.
“This strategic vision is also underpinned by the largest infrastructure spend in this State’s history.
“This $11.4 billion is to be invested during the next four years to upgrade and modernise our transport networks, hospitals and schools and construct a $1.83 billion Adelaide desalination plant to ensure our water security.”
The newly created Department of Planning and Local Government will be the lead agency for implementing this 30-Year strategy.
For more information go to www.plan4adelaide.sa.gov.au
Time is running out to reserve your place at Australia’s premier road industry events of 2009, the Roads Australia Sixth National Roads Summit and the John Shaw Award Dinner, to be held in Sydney later this month.
The Summit, which will be attended by senior executives from across the Australian road industry, takes place at the Novotel Brighton Beach on July 28 and 29.
The event is sponsored by RA members ARRB, Hyder and SKM.
The John Shaw Award Dinner, with guest speaker former NSW Premier and Chairman of Bilfinger Berger Australia (BBA), Nick Greiner AC, takes place on the evening of July 28. The dinner is sponsored by BBA.
Among the issues on this year’s Summit program are:
For the latest program and registration details, click here.
Submitted by Mark Bowmer on Friday July 17th 2009 4:11pm
© 2008 Roads Australia. Roads Australia does not warrant, guarantee or make any representations regarding the currency, accuracy, correctness, reliability, useability, or any other aspect, of the material presented in Roads Australia Insider, nor of material provided by others to Roads Australia and presented in this newsletter, nor of material provided by others and accessed from this site using links or connections to their Web sites or distribution services. The user accepts sole responsibility and all risk for using material presented on or accessed from Roads Australia Insider. Roads Australia does not accept any liability for any loss or damage which may be incurred as a result of using Roads Australia Insider or any material presented in or accessed from Roads Australia Insider.