Major road upgrades are expected to streamline traffic across Sydney and NSW. NRMA is on the job to ensure Members get safer, faster and more reliable roads. Leigh Robshaw reports.
This year, NRMA commissioned an audit of the Princes Highway from Waterfall to the Victorian border along the south coast, which included the F6 Freeway and Mount Ousley Road.
The results reveal that the overall crash and casualty rates have decreased since 2002 but the crash rates on the Princes Highway are above those on the Pacific, New England and Hume Highways. That is why NRMA joined PHocus (the Princes Highway taskforce) in 2003, a joint initiative of Illawarra Business Chamber (Affiliate of ABL), NSW Road Transport Association, SEATS (South East Australian Transport Strategy Inc.) and Southern Councils Group (Wollongong, Shellharbour, Kiama, Shoalhaven, Eurobodalla and Bega Valley Councils).
Results reveal the Snowy Mountains Highway at Bega as the top black spot. Other black spots include Belinda Street, Gerringong; Island Point Road, Tomerong; Meroo Road, Bomaderry; Sussex Inlet Road, Wandandian; Beach Road, Batemans Bay; and McMillan Road, Narooma.
The worst performing section of the route (based on crash rates with both the crash and casualty rate more than 60 per cent above the route average) was in the Shellharbour LGA (local government area). The risk of injury was consistently high from Yallah to Bega.
The route has lots of curves and undulations and insufficient overtaking opportunities.
The best performing section was the Wollongong LGA with crash rates 25 per cent below, and casualty rates 43 per cent below, the route average.
NRMA has been conducting audits of major highways throughout NSW since the 1970s. The audits are used to lobby government for funding. Funding for national highways is sought from the Federal Government, while funding for State highways is sought from the NSW Government.
NRMA audits are the result of information collected by safety auditors who drive the length of the highway and collect data with a global positioning data logger. They assess among other things how much of the highway is divided carriageway (17 per cent for the Princes Highway), the number of speed limit changes (79) and how many curves are signposted with speed restrictions (408). Other data collected includes the condition of the road itself, the width and condition of the roadside shoulders and the number of rest stops. The data provides a detailed analysis of which part of the road needs attention.
The absence of a railway line south of Nowra means that the Princes Highway is the primary land transport route servicing the south coast. This route is significant and NRMA questions why the Princes Highway from Wollongong further south, although partly accessible by train, is not part of the Federal Government’s AusLink Network, an initiative to improve land transport.
“It’s not one of the AusLink corridors but we are nonetheless spending $54 million [in the area], which consists of $34 million for the north Kiama bypass,” says a spokesperson for John Anderson, the Federal Minister for Transport and Regional Services.
“We have [also] allocated $5 million for the construction of a new Pambula River Bridge, which will link Merimbula and Pambula, and propose to provide $15 million to upgrade the worst section of the Princes Highway beyond Kiama, the stretch between south Nowra and the Jervis Bay turnoff.”
The RTA’s response is: “Although the Princes Highway is a State road the NSW Government [thinks] it should be declared a road of national importance to accelerate [its] improvement.”
NRMA’s view: Funding is needed from the State Government and Federal Government for extended upgrades on the Princes Highway.
Michael Costa’s (NSW Minister for Roads) decision to put the F6 corridor back on the agenda has been favourably received.
NRMA’s view: In our survey of residents living in the Sutherland Shire, Wollongong, Mascot, St Peters, Tempe, Arncliffe, Rockdale, Sans Souci and Brighton-Le-Sands, almost 70 per cent of respondents said they wanted the F6 corridor as a motorway extension or combination of motorway and public transport.
The Cross City Tunnel is a $680 million project, built to improve east–west traffic flow across the Sydney CBD. Due to open on June 12, it is 2.1 kms long and links the Western Distributor at Darling Harbour with the Eastern Distributor at East Sydney and New South Head Road at Rushcutters Bay.
Travel time is expected to be cut by up to 20 minutes and you can avoid 18 sets of traffic lights when you travel via the Tunnel. More than 90,000 vehicles a day are expected to bypass city streets.
The Cross City Tunnel will be the first fully electronic or ‘cashless’ toll road, which means you will need either an electronic tag or a casual pass to use the tunnel (see page 25). At the time of writing, the RTA said “the toll has not been finalised but is expected to be in line with other Sydney tollways”.
NRMA’s view: The Cross City Tunnel should deliver benefits to our Members across Sydney, including significant time saved and less congestion on city roads.
The Westlink M7 (previously known as the Western Sydney Orbital) is Australia’s largest urban road project. Due to open in December 2006, it will provide a 40-kilometre link with 17 interchanges, starting from the M5 at Prestons, interchanging with the M4 at Eastern Creek and finishing at the M2 at West Baulkham Hills.
This four-lane motorway will provide faster travel times between western Sydney suburbs, cut travel times by up to an hour and bypass up to 56 sets of traffic lights. With fewer heavy vehicles using local roads it is expected that there will be better air quality and less noise in residential areas.
Like the Cross City Tunnel, it will be a cashless toll road but with multiple tolling points so that users pay only for the section(s) they use. The indicative cost in 2000 was 25 cents per kilometre, with a cap of $5.
NRMA’s view: We are part of the Traffic & Transport Liaison Group for the Westlink M7, which allows us to represent our Members’ views. We believe it is essential that the community be kept informed of lane or road closures to minimise delays.
The 3.6-kilometre Lane Cove Tunnel is expected to open in mid-2007, linking the end of the M2 at North Ryde with the Gore Hill Freeway at Lane Cove. Part of this project involves widening the Gore Hill Freeway with north-facing ramps provided at Falcon Street. According to the RTA, the $1.1 billion project is on schedule and on budget.
The tunnel will shorten trips between the city and the north-west, bypassing five sets of traffic lights. The drive between Falcon Street and the M2 will be quicker and 26 sets of traffic lights will be bypassed; the tunnel will link directly with the Eastern Distributor, making trips to and from the airport faster and more reliable.
“The tunnel and the two new north-facing Falcon Street ramps will operate as a toll road,” says the RTA. “Tolls will be set using a 1999 base figure, plus quarterly CPI increases. The 1999 base is $2 for the tunnel and $1 for the Falcon Street ramps for cars, and twice this amount for heavy vehicles.”
The electronic tag to be used will be similar to tags used on other toll roads in Sydney and can be used on toll roads throughout Australia.
A public information program on the project has been underway since 2004.
NRMA’s view: We are part of the Traffic & Transport Liaison Group for the Lane Cove Tunnel and have advocated for a solution to address problems along Epping Road and Longueville Road through Lane Cove. The Lane Cove Tunnel adds a missing link to Sydney’s arterial orbital road network.
Epping Road will provide motorists with a free alternate road route. Faster bus travel and cycleways will also result. The project should result in reduced traffic congestion, which should help attract through traffic away from residential streets in the Lane Cove area.
The proposed M4 East Motorway would start at Parramatta Road, North Strathfield, and provide exit and entry points at Parramatta Road, Ashfield, and the City West Link at Dobroyd Point.
The RTA is doing an Environmental Impact Statement for a five-kilometre tunnel after community comment on three options released in 2003. This will become available for public comment and, once approved, is expected to take two to three years to construct.
The potential benefits of the M4 East Motorway will include better access to the M4 from the city, fewer trucks on the section of Parramatta Road that would be bypassed, and less traffic congestion and noise on local streets.
Full electronic tolling is currently proposed. “In 2002 the then Minister for Roads announced that the M4 East project would be privately financed,” says the RTA. “The toll for the M4 East will be used to fund construction. Without a toll from road users, the project could not be delivered in the foreseeable future.”
NRMA’s view: We made a submission to the RTA about its proposal for the building of this project and supported the long tunnel option even though it was the most expensive, as the benefits it would provide are clearly superior to the other options.
Former NSW Minister for Roads, Carl Scully, announced in June 2004 that the RTA was proceeding with the short tunnel option, but it was lengthened by almost a kilometre following community comment.
We support the early construction of the M4 East, but believe it should be a non-toll road as it’s a vital link road and funding can come from elsewhere.
The M2 to F3 (West Pennant Hills to Wahroonga) link will connect the M2 Motorway to the F3 Freeway. NRMA supported the Governments’ (Federal and State) preferred Purple Option (most westerly option) as it achieved nearly all the stated planning objectives. This option is an eight-kilometre long, mostly in-tunnel road that connects
the M2 Motorway at Pennant Hills Road interchange with the F3 Freeway at Wahroonga.
NRMA’s view: We believe that this option should improve travel conditions on the Cumberland Highway/Pennant Hills Road and local amenity on Pennant Hills Road. The Department of Transport and Regional Services together with the RTA are preparing the Environmental Impact Statement for the Purple Option.
The link from the F3 Freeway at Seahampton to the New England Highway at Branxton will divert through traffic away from Maitland and adjacent towns.
For some years local communities and businesses have lobbied for this key project. The proposed link will decrease travel times for motorists and freight traffic travelling to Newcastle and the north-west of the State, allowing exports to be transported to the port more economically. The Hunter Business Chamber believes the link will create 2437 full-time jobs in the region or $111 million in income.
The Federal Government committed $253 million for the project over a five-year period in its AusLink announcement. This figure is short of the total cost of the project and the funding is dependent on the NSW Government agreeing to the conditions that the Federal Government has applied to AusLink.
NRMA’s view: We want the funding issues on this project resolved quickly so that construction can proceed.
The Pacific Highway is in dire need of improvement and NRMA welcomes the debate started by Deputy Prime Minister, John Anderson, and NSW Minister for Roads, Michael Costa, about how to pay for the upgrade of the Pacific Highway.
NRMA’s view: “As the motorists’ champion, we will be part of this debate,” says NRMA President Alan Evans. “We’re glad the State Government and Federal Government are talking to each other about innovative ways to [improve] the Pacific Highway.
“The road can be paid for in several ways, whether it be debt, shadow tolls, bonds, tolls or other means.”
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