The 2010 National Road Summit has prompted a renewed media debate this week on road pricing and funding.
And on the eve of the release of the Henry tax review, a new discussion paper on road funding has just been posted on the Roads Australia website to inform the debate amongst members.
The discussion paper by respected industry figure, Dr Max Lay, provides an independent perspective on road pricing issues in the context of the broader debate on road planning, funding and financing.
The discussion paper can be viewed on the RA website, under Publications on the News page. Although not necessarily representing the views of Roads Australia, the paper is being provided to members to generate ideas and feedback.
RA’s take on road funding issues in the context of the current speculation and debate around the Henry review is covered in a separate Member Policy Briefing Note, also found on the RA website.
Road funding/financing was one of the key issues discussed at last week’s RA National Road Summit in Sydney.
A number of speakers and participants were interviewed by media during and after the Summit, with RA Vice-President David Stuart-Watt providing an overview of conference themes and outcomes in a national interview on ABC News Radio.
International transport expert and Summit speaker, Jack Opiola, also featured prominently in media coverage. Mr Opiola’s visit, at the invitation of Roads Australia, proved to be very timely in the countdown to the release of the Henry review, with his comments on road pricing picked up in the Sydney Morning Herald and subsequently in interviews on ABC Radio.
Roads Australia wants the Henry review to be the catalyst for all governments coming together to review the constitutional and administrative processes and responsibilities as they relate to the planning, funding, delivery, operation and maintenance of our transport infrastructure.
Roads Australia has added an important new resource to its website – the Pipeline, a list of upcoming major road projects and contracts.
Formally launched at last week’s National Road Summit, the Pipeline is an initiative of the Roads Australia Capacity Chapter, and has been developed with the support and assistance of the state road authorities in Queensland, Victoria, NSW and SA.
It is designed to provide an overview of some of the major road projects and contracts that are expected to come to market in the coming two years. The information is provided by the road authorities and will be updated on a regular basis.
“This is an important industry resource that puts upcoming projects from various state jurisdictions, side by side on the one page,” says Capacity Chapter Chairman, David Stuart-Watt.
“Not only does it give industry a look at what is on the horizon, but it gives the road authorities themselves the opportunity to avoid situations where major contracts come to market in the same week or month, stretching the resources of the bidders.”
Mr Stuart-Watt described the Pipeline as a ‘work in progress’, and something that would evolve over time to meet the needs of the various stakeholders.
“We particularly welcome feedback on how it can be improved, and we hope over time that we will have an even longer pipeline of projects to report.”
Click here to go to the Pipeline page on the Roads Australia website.
The national maintenance backlog, road pricing and funding, the utilisation of technology, and the future transport challenges associated with Australia’s growing and aging population were amongst the key issues dissected at this year’s RA National Road Summit.
Held in Sydney last week, the two-day Summit attracted over 200 industry leaders - including Federal and State ministers – to discuss the challenges and potential solutions facing our road network and road transport users.
The keynote address was delivered by Professor John Daley, the CEO of Melbourne-based think tank the Grattan Institute. Prof Daley provided an illuminating presentation focussed on the likely economic and social challenges facing Australia in the decades ahead, and the policy implications in areas like transport and infrastructure.
In particular Professor Daley spoke about the impacts of the international economy, an aging population, and the need for more focus on quality education in Australia.
He referred to the social cost of problems like congestion in terms of road users’ ‘well-being’. Social 'connectedness' was now an increasingly important measure and would impact more and more on government policies in areas like transport and land-use planning, he said.
One theme that came up in a number of presentations was technology – how it could be harnessed to improve the performance of road infrastructure and vehicles.
In his keynote address, Federal Transport and Infrastructure Minister, Anthony Albanese, told delegates that information technology had enormous potential to help tackle infrastructure bottlenecks and ease urban congestion.
“We are now beginning to see practical, every day examples of smart infrastructure right across the country (and) it’s fair to say that even first generation applications are proving their mettle, and improving our management of congested cities,” the Minister said.
Mr Albanese also encouraged the road industry to engage in the Government’s current Smart Infrastructure inquiry. His presentation to to the Summit can be viewed at the ministerial website.
The technology theme was repeated in presentations by Brett Doughty, Senior Technical Director with Hyder Consulting, who spoke on his personal vision for ‘driverless’ cars, and Dr Andrew Simpson, from the Sustainability Policy (CUSP) Institute at Curtin University, who provided an update and vision for the future of hydrogen fuel cell and electric vehicles.
Visiting international transport expert, Jack Opiola, provided an international perspective on the road pricing debate. He presented consumer survey results from the US on road user charging, underlining the challenges to be faced, and strategies required, to shift public opinion and government policy in the debate.
Nigel Hatcher, from Macromonitor, provided a mixed outlook in his analysis of total construction activity, pointing to a period of accelerating growth over the next four years, followed by a mid-decade downturn.
Greg Martin, Chairman of the National Transport Commission, gave a rundown on the challenges being faced by policy makers on the course of transport reform. Mr Martin emphasised the importance of integrating national freight and ports strategies with a ‘moving people’ strategy.
Scott Alison, MD of Asset Development with Abigroup, outlined a contractor’s perspective on the challenges of building and maintaining our road networks. Mr Alison noted that the maintenance backlog was an increasing concern, a view echoed by a number of speakers.
Other speakers over the course of the two-day Summit included NSW Treasurer, Eric Roozendaal; Qld Roads Minister, Craig Wallace, who provided an overview of the road program in his home state; VicRoads CEO, Gary Liddle; the RTA’s Director of Operations and Engineering Services, Mike Veysey; and International Transport Planner at Parsons Brinckerhoff, Darren Henderson.
Presentations from this year's Summit can be downloaded at the RA website.
RA would like to express its thanks to all the participants at this year's Summit, and in particular gold sponsors ARRB, Abigroup, Hyder Consulting, Leighton Contractors and SKM; silver sponsor Clayton Utz, and John Shaw Dinner sponsor Parsons Brinckerhoff.
Abigroup’s National Road Manager, Avro Tinni, has been awarded Australia’s most prestigious honour for services to the road industry, the John Shaw Medal.
Mr Tinni was named the recipient of the 2010 Medal at a Gala Dinner held during last week’s Roads Australia National Road Summit in Sydney.
The John Shaw Medal is only awarded when the selection committee, made up of previous winners, is satisfied that a candidate of sufficient merit has been nominated. Mr Tinni’s is only the 14th Medal presented in the 32 years since the Award’s inception.
The citation for his Award described him as a “true pioneer of modern road construction techniques”.
Mr Tinni’s distinguished career stretches over 50 years and he has worked for Abigroup for the past 15 years.
“I’m delighted to receive the John Shaw Medal and also pleased for my company Abigroup: as it’s only the second time an employee from a private construction company has received this award,” he said.
“The Australian road construction industry has undergone many changes for the better over the course of my career and I’m proud to have played a part in helping along this process.”
Among some of Mr Tinni's achievements are:
The Medal is named after John Shaw, Commissioner of the NSW Department of Main Roads from 1962 to 1967, and a former Commissioner of the City of Sydney and National President of RA’s predecessor, the Australian Road Federation.
Baulderstone has been announced as the construction company to build the new Bulahdelah upgrade on the Pacific Highway, in northern NSW, clearing the way for major work to begin in June 2010.
The announcement was made this week by Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, and NSW Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport and Roads, David Borger.
Duplication of the Pacific Highway between Sydney and the Queensland border is a jointly funded project, with the Federal Government contributing $3.1 billion and NSW Government a further $500 million.
Mr Borger said once the Bulahdelah upgrade is completed there will 220 kilometres of continuous four-lane divided highway all the way from the F3 Freeway to the Port Macquarie turn off.
“This $315 million project will replace the existing single carriageway running through Bulahdelah with 8.6 kilometres of new highway to the town’s east, including 12 bridges and a new interchange,” said Mr Borger.
“Preconstruction work is already well underway including drainage work south of the Myall River, extensive land clearing, and extensive ecological and heritage research.”
More information can be found at the RTA website.
Planning for the $1.7 billion Northern Link Road Tunnel in Brisbane has reached another milestone, with the Coordinator-General granting conditional approval for the project.
Qld Minister for Infrastructure and Planning, Stirling Hinchliffe, announced last week that the Coordinator-General’s evaluation report of the project’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) now allowed the reference design for the project to proceed subject to strict conditions.
Coordinator-General, Colin Jensen, said the 34 conditions in the evaluation report were the most extensive and stringent ever for a transport infrastructure project in Queensland, and included extra controls developed from experience gained with other road tunnel projects in Brisbane.
Brisbane City Council (BCC) is proposing to build a 7km twin-tunnel underground toll road linking the Centenary Motorway at Toowong to the Inner City Bypass at Herston.
The Coordinator-General’s Report can be viewed at thew Department of Infrastructure and Planning website.
The Leighton Abigroup Joint Venture (LAJV) has this month been awarded a $240 million contract to deliver additional upgrade works on Brisbane’s Gateway Motorway from Mt Gravatt-Capalaba Road to Miles Platting Road.
These critical works are an extension to the existing Gateway Upgrade Project and comprise the widening of the Gateway Motorway from four to six lanes, improvements to the road alignment and localised improvements to the Mt Gravatt-Capalaba Road interchange.
So far the Leighton Abigroup Joint Venture has delivered the 7km Gateway Motorway north of Brisbane River in July 2009, as well as additional lanes south of Old Cleveland Road. The new Gateway Bridge and 12km of upgrade motorway south of the bridges will also open to traffic by mid this year.
Abigroup National Operations Director, John Kirkwood said, “Winning this new contract is a vote of confidence from the Queensland Government and Queensland Motorways on the work we have carried out so far in delivering the Gateway Upgrade Project.
“Thanks to production efficiencies and innovations made by the project team, the new Gateway Bridge will be opened in May, six months ahead of schedule and the motorway works are being completed in a timely and cost efficient manner. We look forward to starting work on the next stage of the project.”
Work on the 4km Gateway Upgrade Project extension will commence immediately and is
expected to be completed by mid 2011.
Meantime, in other Queensland road news the first sod was turned earlier this month on the $110 million Douglas Arterial Duplication project in Townsville. The upgrade is set to be completed in 2012, weather permitting.
Tenders have been called for the next stage in the upgrade of the Bruce Highway just south of Mackay, the City Gates intersection. The tender process closes on May 18.
And the wheels are in motion for the $126 million upgrade to Labrador–Carrara Road (Olsen Avenue), on the Gold Coast, with the first stage of construction underway this month. A $10 million contract for stage one of the works has been awarded to Moggill Constructions.
The Victorian Government has committed $25.6 million towards the $55.6 million duplication of Clyde Road between Kangan Drive and High Street in Berwick, Melbourne.
Planning and design work will start immediately on the project, to which the Federal Government has also committed $30 million. Work is expected to start by the end of the 2011 and is scheduled for completion in 2013.
In other Victorian news, major construction is underway on an initial stage of the $505 million Western Freeway upgrade near Ballarat.
Premier John Brumby was joined by Roads and Ports Minister, Tim Pallas, earlier this month to mark the start of works where the Western Freeway narrows to a two-lane highway from the Sunraysia Highway interchange, just west of Ballarat.
These initial works will extend the divided highway for eight kilometres through to Burrumbeet, with future sections to be progressively completed and opened for the 110 kilometres to Stawell.
ConnectEast, the owner and operator of Melbourne’s EastLink tollway, and ARRB Group used the occasion of the RA Summit to announce a Memorandum of Understanding to co-operate on road safety and other operational road research matters for a period of three years.
ConnectEast Managing Director, Mr Dennis Cliche, and ARRB’s Managing Director, Mr Gerard Waldron, said the agreement between the operators of one of Victoria’s safest roads and Australia and New Zealand’s only national road transport research organisation would lead to benefits for all motorists.
"The agreement provides ConnectEast with access to ARRB's specialist road safety engineers and behavioural scientists when external expertise is needed to address operational road safety matters,” Mr Cliche said.
“ARRB's experience in road safety research, risk assessments and developing practical solutions is well-known to Australia's State and local road authorities. In addition, ConnectEast gathers detailed data of road traffic incidents and this will be provided to ARRB for further research to improve road safety in Australia.”
Mr Waldron said that ARRB was pleased to have a formal agreement with ConnectEast because ARRB's focus on solutions applies equally to private and Government road operators.
“The agreement will ensure that ConnectEast is informed of emerging issues in road safety, and can access that advice, and ARRB's expertise on like bituminous surfacings, pavements and heavy vehicle dynamics, at short notice,” Mr Waldron said.
ConnectEast and ARRB's offices are located only ten minutes apart, via EastLink, in Melbourne's eastern suburbs of Ringwood and Vermont South. As the operator of one of Melbourne’s busiest and safest roads, ConnectEast supports a range of local road safety initiatives such as the EastLink Road Safety Program which educates thousands of young people through local football and netball clubs each year about the impact of road trauma and the benefits of responsible driving.
Submitted by Mark Bowmer on Friday April 30th 2010 10:10am
© 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.