Beaches Link: Underground toll road should be scrapped, committee recommends
A proposed underground toll road, linking the northern beaches to the city, should be scrapped because no one can adequately explain why we need it, a parliamentary committee says.
Manly
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Plans for the Beaches Link underground toll road from the northern beaches to city should be scrapped because the NSW Government can’t properly explain the benefits of building it and how much it will cost, a parliamentary committee has recommended.
And government planners failed to consider public transport links as a viable alternative to the proposed twin tunnels from Balgowlah and Seaforth to Cammeray, the Upper Houses’ Public Works Committee found.
Chaired by Labor’s Treasury spokesman Daniel Moohkey, the committee was investigating the impact of the Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link.
While the government deferred the project indefinitely in June, it confirmed again on Tuesday that it was still committed to the plan.
But Mr Moohkey said the government had not provided a business case or benefit-cost ratio for the Link and “the community is understandably sceptical of Beaches Link’s value”.
“The committee identified various issues with the planning and justification of the Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link, including that the government failed to adequately
consider public transport options … and that there was a lack of transparency regarding project planning,” he said.
In his foreword to the report Mr Moohkey wrote that Beaches Link “lacks adequate explanation of what its benefits and costs are for the NSW community.”
Labor has said it would ditch the Beaches Link if it won the March 2023 election.
The release of the impact report comes six months after the government announced it was delaying construction of the tunnel, which was expected to begin next year if it received approval, due to surging construction costs and global labour shortages.
That announcement came after a report by Infrastructure NSW recommended putting some mega-projects on the backburner in favour of smaller projects that provided “higher paybacks”.
Back in March 2018 the Manly Daily reported that the Beaches Link could be put on hold.
A NSW Government state planning document — the State Infrastructure Strategy 2018-2038 — called for the 7.5km twin-tunnel motorway to be put on the backburner in favour of other transport projects.
It suggested more focus be put on public transport options for the northern beaches and fixing traffic “pinch points”.
Then in June this year, Premier Dominic Perrottet said that the government needed to prioritise building infrastructure in fast-growing locations, such as western Sydney.
The committee recommended that if the Beaches Link ever gets the go-ahead, that the government consider adding dedicated bus lanes.
Other recommendations included keeping Beaches Link in public ownership and the tolls kept by the government; the Government ensure the results of environmental impact assessments on the northern beaches inform construction planning so that environmental impacts are
minimised as much a possible and the government with Northern Beaches Council to reduce local traffic impacts.
Metropolitan Roads Minister Natalie Ward said on Tuesday that the committee report was “political”, led by Labor and the Greens who have opposed every infrastructure project delivered in NSW since 2011.
The government is due to deliver a response to the report before March 6, 2023.
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