RTA Chief Executive Officer, Michael Bushby, has been reinstated following the weekend release of the findings of the Moroney Report into April’s F3 freeway incident.
Mr Bushby was stood aside in April pending the outcome of the independent investigation into the incident, which caused significant traffic delays.
Releasing the Report on Saturday, Premier Kristina Keneally said her Government would accept in principle all 33 recommendations made by the former NSW Police Commissioner.
Mr Moroney was asked to consider the planning, preparation, response and recovery arrangements involved with the incident.
The NSW Government response includes accepting the major recommendation of relocating and reporting of the Transport Management Centre (TMC) from the organisational and functional control of the Roads and Traffic Authority to the Director General of Transport NSW.
The TMC will be re-shaped as the new Transport Information and Co-ordination Centre (TICC) and established within Transport NSW. It will be responsible for providing seamless transport management across the entire transport network.
The NSW Government also accepts Mr Moroney’s recommendation that the NSW Police Force should assume and lead the command and control arrangements of major motor vehicle incidents that require the response of several agencies.
In addition, the NSW Government will finalise as a matter of priority all outstanding action items identified in the Rapid Response for New F3 Emergency Plan (2008). A report will be provided to the Director General of Transport NSW by August 31.
Ms Keneally said the report findings demonstrated the Government had provided the relevant agencies with a plan, resources and technical expertise to deal with the incident, but a lack of knowledge, experience and coordination between agencies caused the delay.
“The contra flow system on the F3 clearly was not implemented in a timely manner, leaving some road users waiting up to eight hours and this is just not good enough,” Ms Keneally said.
The NSW Government also accepts Mr Moroney’s recommendation that the RTA must develop a better customer-service culture.
“As part of our response to the recommendations, the NSW Government will immediately appoint Ann King, the current Acting CEO of the RTA, as Customer Service Director,” Ms Keneally said.
“Ms King will be in charge of leading an internal “cultural change program” within the RTA.
“This will give the RTA a renewed focus on customer service – a priority that should be at the heart of all Government services.”
The report also concluded the Minister for Transport and Roads at the time of the incident, David Campbell, operated within accepted Ministerial norms during the incident.
Mr Moroney found that Mr Bushby acted appropriately in response to the advice the RTA provided to him. However, that advice was flawed in that it did not reflect information held by the RTA and other agencies, such as the NSW Police and NSW Fire Brigades.
The establishment of the TICC and the recognition of the NSW Police as the appropriate coordinating agency in such situations will address this problem directly, the Government says.
The complete report and related attachments are available at www.dpc.nsw.gov.au.
The Federal Opposition says it will roll out a $600 million program to repair and rebuild thousands of ageing and decaying bridges around Australia if it wins government at the next election.
Shadow Minister for Trade, Transport and Local Government, Warren Truss, made the announcement at this month’s National General Assembly of Local Government, saying a Coalition Government would put $300 million over four years into a new Bridges Renewal Program, to be matched on a dollar for dollar and case by case basis by local or state governments.
“Repairing these bridges is truly an issue of local and national need, and the Coalition is prepared to act,” Mr Truss said.
“Local councils in particular have expressed serious concern about their ability to deal with the backlog of work on these bridges. Some councils have up to 100 bridges needing repair, with one benchmark figure suggesting it costs about $700,000 to refurbish or replace a bridge.
“There are more than 30,000 small road bridges around Australia, many in decay. They are usually on secondary freight routes and in regional Australia.
“Apart from the movement of freight, they are key economic assets in connecting local communities to the broader road network and getting people to work and school.
“Some councils have been unable to afford maintenance and upgrades necessary to keep these bridges open. Some have load limits. Sometimes people simply have to find another route.
“The federal money will be distributed on a competitive application basis, giving priority to community needs and economic return. It will be part of the AusLink programs and further details will be released closer to the election.”
The Victorian Government’s introduction of truck lane restrictions on a section of the Princes Highway takes effect on July 1.
First announced back in March, the introduction of the restrictions will see trucks travelling on the Princes Highway restricted from the right hand lane from the Western Ring Road interchange at Altona North to Avalon Road at Lara.
Roads and Ports Minister, Tim Pallas, says the new measure will encourage better road sharing and therefore improve safety, while the restrictions are also expected to improve traffic flow and travel times.
The 39 kilometre stretch of the Princes Freeway is the first three-or-more lane highway where the restrictions will apply, with EastLink to follow.
The Eastern Freeway and West Gate Freeway west of Williamstown Road are also being investigated for the lane restrictions, as are other roads, including CityLink, the M1 corridor and the M80 Ring Road, which currently contain significant road works.
Mr Pallas said the Government recognised the important role of the freight industry, but was also committed to minimising private vehicle and trucks interaction.
Scope of work has been completed on Victoria’s M80 Ring Road Upgrade, between the Calder Freeway and Sydney Road, with the contract finalised at $623m.
In 2009, Thiess joined VicRoads and design partners Parsons Brinckerhoff and Hyder Consulting to form the Tulla Sydney Alliance to complete the 9.7km project.
The M80 Ring Road links a number of corridors and major arterial roads and facilitates freight movement between Melbourne, regional Victoria and interstate capitals. The overall M80 Ring Road Upgrade, which is being funded by the Victorian and Australian Governments, will deliver widening and improvement works to address safety and congestion issues and improve travel times and reliability, especially during peak periods.
Work on the Tulla Sydney section commenced in December 2009 and is progressing on schedule between Sydney Road and Pascoe Vale Road and from east of the Calder Freeway to Airport Drive, with the new lanes on track to open by the end of 2012.
Thiess Managing Director, David Saxelby, said he was pleased to see the project already benefiting from Thiess’ strong experience in delivering critical infrastructure efficiently.
“We completed the $2.6bn EastLink project five months early. This is yet another important project for Victoria and we look forward to the role it will soon play in positively positioning the state’s roads for future economic growth,” he said.
The Alliance’s contract also includes:
Hundreds of Thiess John Holland workers from the Truro Street and Bowen Hills tunnelling teams were joined by BrisConnections and Qld Transport Minister, Rachel Nolan, this month to celebrate the first tunnel breakthrough in construction of Airport Link.
The breakthrough occurred on 18 June in the northbound Airport Link tunnel, as a 135-tonne roadheader travelling south from Windsor cut through the tunnel face 22m below the surface of Lutwyche Road in Brisbane's north.
Tunnelling teams are working around the clock in Bowen Hills, Windsor, Kedron and Wooloowin to construct the twin 5.1 kilometre Airport Link tunnels.
NSW commuters are catching trains, buses and ferries more and driving their cars less, according to figures released today in the annual Household Travel Survey.
Minister for Transport, John Robertson, said the survey was the largest of its kind in Australia, with more than 5000 households approached and 8000 individuals surveyed each year.
“The results of the latest annual Household Travel Survey show that weekday public transport use is up, and car use down, for the fourth consecutive year,” Mr Robertson said.
Fast facts from the 2008/09 Household Travel Survey:
Despite the shift to public transport, household vehicle ownership continues to grow, increasing by 2.8 per cent in 2008/09.
“The fact that the reduction in car use is not accompanied by a decline in vehicle ownership points to people making a conscious choice to use public transport,” Mr Robertson said.
“People are not giving up their cars completely; they are simply being more selective about when they use them, which is a really good outcome.”
The impact of the global financial crisis was felt in the Sydney CBD, with a particularly strong impact on business-related travel.
“Despite population growth of 1.5 per cent, commute trips to work grew by only 0.7 per cent – reflecting the economic conditions in 2008/09."
Submitted by Mark Bowmer on Monday June 28th 2010 2:06pm
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