Roads congestion: Budget bucks meant to quicken traffic
BUSTING congestion will be a major focus of the Turnbull government’s federal Budget next month, with tens of billions of dollars in road and rail projects planned.
NSW
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BUSTING congestion and slashing the time commuters sit in traffic will be a major focus of the Turnbull government’s federal Budget next month, with tens of billions of dollars in road and rail projects planned.
In an exclusive interview with The Saturday Telegraph, Infrastructure and Cities Minister Paul Fletcher said the government’s aim was to reduce travel times for workers with an “unprecedented infrastructure spend”.
“People want congestion reduced, they want to find it easier to get to and from work,” he said. “We are making very substantial investments in infrastructure so people can move around our city as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
Data shows Sydney’s most congested roads have become steadily slower over the past decade. According to the NRMA, it now takes 10 minutes longer to drive the M4 than it did in 2007, when there was an enviable average commute time of 36 minutes.
A daily commute on the M5 takes on average one hour and 52 minutes — seven minutes longer than 10 years ago.
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In a change of political strategy from previous years, the sell on the federal Budget will begin weeks out, rather than leaving it all to a single major announcement on Budget day, May 8. The spend on projects designed to bring down congestion could top last year’s $75 billion.
Over coming weeks, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Treasurer Scott Morrison will press the phrase “congestion-busting infrastructure”.
Rather than cut immigration, Mr Turnbull is focused on improving the “liveability” of Sydney.
“If you do what governments all too often do and fail to put in the transport and the amenities, then there will be congestion and people will be disappointed and unhappy,” Mr Turnbull said. “If, however, you plan ahead — which is what I am doing and what the federal government is doing ... then you have the infrastructure, you can have more people.”
Gabrielle Lamerton endures a 5:30am alarm clock five days a week to get from her Greystanes home to the Manly dental practice where she works for an 8am start.
The 23-year-old dental coordinator said the trip used to be more gruelling until a friend in the same area also took a job at the practice.
“It used to be worse when I was getting up and driving there on my own, but now if my friend works the same shift we can carpool,” she said.
However, even with company, the early start can still takes its toll on Ms Lamerton.
“Some days we do just sit in silence, with no radio just being quiet,” she said.
But getting from Greystanes to the city isn’t the real problem, according to Ms Lamerton, who says it’s the shorter trip from the city to Manly which can be the most testing.
“Military Rd is a nightmare,” she said. “We spend the majority of our trip sitting on Military Rd.”
NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said some of the ongoing congestion issues were “unacceptable in a modern city like Sydney”.
“Finishing the light rail projects, upgrading the rail network, the metro line — these are the things we need to do to bring down congestion in the city,” he said. “We hadn’t invested for decades and we’re now catching up but there’s obviously still a long way to go.”