The missing link and missing out

Prioritising ’s F3- Motorway Connector

With SUPPORTING RESEARCH UPDATE BY PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS

MAY 2012 NSROC president’s message The eight councils involved in this report represent over three quarters of a million of the greater Sydney metropolitan area’s residents.

We believe the F3-M2 Connector is a local, regional and national NSROC priority that will generate substantial economic and social benefits for local residents, for Sydney, and for the nation for generations to come.

Unfortunately the project has been passed over by previous State and president’s Federal governments. With the new NSW Government considering its 20 year Transport for NSW Master Plan in 2012, the time is right for this critical project message to be recognised and actioned.

Nick Berman, President of NSROC and Mayor of Hornsby Council executive summary Who made this report? What is the missing link? This report has been collectively The F3-M2 Connector is the remaining commissioned by eight NSW Councils in “missing link” between Sydney’s orbital and central coast area who motorway network and the F3 Freeway are concerned about the missing motorway which connects Sydney to the Central Coast, link between the end of the F3 at Wahroonga Newcastle and beyond with the Pacific and and M2 motorway interchange at Pennant New England Highways. Hills Road. The proposed link would replace the current This Executive Summary highlights the key section of National on Pennant Hills findings from the attached analysis undertaken Road to complete the . by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). As the Federal Government’s Pearlman Report The Northern Sydney Regional Organisation (2007) found, the most viable option is an of Councils (NSROC) comprises seven 8 kilometre uninterrupted motorway road, councils in the north of Sydney which have which would involve two uni-directional come together to address regional issues, tunnels between the F3 Freeway at Wahroonga work co-operatively for the benefit of the and the Pennant Hills Road – M2 interchange. region, and advocate on regional positions and priorities. The seven member councils are Hornsby, Hunter’s Hill, Ku-ring-gai, Lane Why is this link important? Cove, North Sydney, Ryde and Willoughby. The F3-M2 Connector is the only section of the National Road Network through Sydney In addition, Gosford City Council has that is not of motorway standard. also supported this report as they view this motorway project as a priority for All three levels of government have recognised their community. the need to provide this infrastructure to ensure basic freight, business and individual transport functionality.

Today, without the link, all vehicles travelling north-south along this major freight and general traffic route are interrupted by over 20 sets of traffic lights to the M2 interchange, or are forced to travel north-south along the congested Pacific Highway to the .

The PwC report provides background on historic studies and outlines the mounting costs and multiple negative impacts of continued deferral of this project. The report underpins the call for this vital project to be re-analysed, costed and prioritised. The BUSINESS OWNER “As a mobile plumbing and electrical business based in Thornleigh, transport links are critical for us to reach our clients across Sydney. We have a fleet of F3 Freeway 30 trucks and every traffic delay means higher costs to the business Hornsby and increases the response time to our customers. Missing link in The cost to my business on lost productivity (non-billable time spent sitting in traffic) allowing orbital network one hour per day per truck would amount to an approximate cost of $475,000 per year. In the 25 years since establishing our business, Pennant Hills Road has become one of the worst M2 bottlenecks in Sydney and costs us daily.” Blacktown Allan Ferguson – CEO, Omega Plumbing Services

Chatswood

Parramatta M4 M7 Sydney

Burwood Eastern Bondi Junction Bankstown Distributor The RESIDENT “As a resident of Thornleigh we Liverpool unfortunately deal with the chaos and danger of Pennant Hills Road on a daily basis. Our families and M5 communities are crying out for help Hurstville ... urgently needed is the undivided attention by all levels of Government to address this ever so compelling issue – the so called “missing link”. It has taken over 40 minutes to travel no more than 1km on Pennant Hills Road and it is only getting worse irrespective of time or day!” John Hanna – Thornleigh resident F3 Freeway

Hornsby Missing link in orbital network

M2 Blacktown

Chatswood

Parramatta M4 M7 Sydney

Burwood Eastern Bondi Junction Bankstown Distributor Liverpool

M5 Hurstville

Hume Highway what are we missing out on?

Kyle Loades – NRMA Director “We have long been calling for the government to adopt the recommendations of the Pearlman review to alleviate traffic congestion in Hornsby, Pennant Hills and Thornleigh. Pennant Hills Road is the link between the M2 and the F3 … that can’t be sustained … its time they got down to work.” 1 April 2009 National freight efficiency Sydney’s functionality Without the F3-M2 link, higher costs and and competitiveness constraints on freight movement are created Studies estimate that the cost of congestion on this north-south corridor connecting across Sydney in 2005 was $3.5 billion and through to . These flow could amount to $7.8 billion in 2020. through to increased costs of goods and services for Australian consumers. For Longer worker and commuter travel times on example, Woolworths see the bottlenecks congested roads directly affect business on Pennant Hills Road as a key problem competitiveness and profitability. A simple causing slower delivery times and increased accident can delay a worker reaching the office delivery costs. or a service provider reaching a client. A 2011 NRMA survey found that some individual In 2008 it was estimated that over 75,600 businesses attributed almost $20,000 extra in vehicles were carried by Pennant Hills Road wages and fuel costs each year due to gridlock. each day, with around 10% (or 8,800) of this volume being truck movements. The average Over 60% of the F3 daily traffic is commuters proportion of heavy goods vehicles on roads from the Central Coast. A substantial portion in NSW is 6.57% which underlines what an of these drivers are travelling onwards to the important freight corridor this route is. north west or other parts of Sydney. Forward estimates suggest that across Average peak speeds on Pennant Hills Road, last Sydney, freight trips will rise by 47% in the measured in 2004, were between 14km and next 20 years with heavy vehicles growing 25km per hour. Travellers identified Pennant Hills at 2.2 per cent per year. This is faster than Road as one of the top 5 worst roads in NSW. the population growth of Sydney. The inter-regional impacts of congestion and According to Austroads, in 2008 the travel times affect all of Sydney, slowing access estimated value of travel time for a semi- into other regional centres such as Parramatta, trailer is over $55 per hour. If half of the 8,800 Penrith and Chatswood. heavy goods vehicles using Pennant Hills As well as being a key “through State” freight Road are delayed by 30 minutes then the route, around 25 per cent of trucks using total cost to business is somewhere in the Pennant Hills Road have origins or destinations order of $125,000 per day. This is a north of Newcastle, in northern NSW or conservative estimate as many of the trucks Queensland. A 2011 analysis also suggests that using this route are large combination Sydney’s container freight volume will increase vehicles such as B-Doubles with higher costs. 3.5 times from now to 2030. This will generate The $125,000 each day or $45 million per further freight movements from depots in year, only represents the operational costs Sydney’s west, to population growth areas to and does not take into account the wider the north of Sydney and along the NSW coast. costs of congestion to society and the environment, which will be significant. Congestion is so severe it is constraining economic development in the north and Without the connector, the National Highway north west of Sydney where new housing cannot operate efficiently as a carrier of road and business development applications are freight, which is damaging to businesses and rejected because of insufficient road capacity the wider economy of greater Sydney and along Pennant Hills Road. These rejections arguably a large proportion of the east coast are based on the RTA’s concerns about the of . existing road capacity.

The congestion relief for Pennant Hills Road provided by the F3-M2 Connector could actually reverse this trend by enabling more businesses and urban renewal development to occur along the less congested road. This has been the experience observed on the following the construction of the M7. The Hon Phillip Ruddock MP “It’s urgently required to address the “missing link” and it’s becoming progressively more urgent with the increased utilisation by freight. With that greater usage, there has also been a significant increase in the dangers posed.”

12 April 2012 Social improvements Environmental The social costs of congestion are broad, improvements ranging from the in-estimable personal Congestion results in static and more frequent losses associated with serious injury and stops and starts of motor vehicles. This leads accidents to the lost time in congestion to greater fuel consumption, up to double that impacting on family life and community generated in free flowing conditions, as well participation. as higher exhaust pollution being generated.

High crash rates, that are nearly double the With carbon taxes being introduced in 2012, Sydney network average, have been fuel costs per litre will increase on top of the identified on Pennant Hills Road. In 2010, extra fuel required by slow traffic. Additional there were 193 reported crashes on Pennant emissions from heavy traffic have also Hills Road with 63 resulting in injury and been linked to health issues particularly 34 involving heavy vehicles. respiratory conditions.

There are both direct costs of accidents and A further concern for the immediate area costs associated with accident traffic delays. is noise pollution and animal habitat Studies reveal substantial drops in accident degradation. The preferred route, as identified rates on motorway-grade roads. The RTA by previous studies, is predominantly tunnel measure of accident rates shows that the which should suppress ambient noise and difference in the average crash cost per long term environmental impacts, both million of vehicle kilometres travelled falls during construction and operation. from $47,900 on arterial roads down to $14,900 on freeways, due to lesser number of crashes on freeways. Local community improvements and growth A further social impact is the “lost hours” for commuters spent in congestion which As noted, there are substantial negative reduces individuals’ leisure time to engage impacts from the missing link for local with their families and communities. While residents in terms of higher accident risk the impact on work/life balance is difficult to and local congestion. estimate, anecdotal information about higher The daily impacts of congestion result in individual stress, diminishment of community diversion of traffic into local roads and the volunteering and reduced social cohesion has “rat runs” around the adjacent suburbs which been linked to increasing travel times. increases noise and wear on local roads not designed for high traffic flows. This means local trips become far longer for local residents than necessary, with wait times increased because of traffic volumes or right hand turns prohibited. This also inhibits local business development through lack of accessibility and local parking.

The current Pennant Hills Road severs the surrounding suburbs affecting pedestrian mobility and safety. The congestion relief for Pennant Hills Road provided by the F3-M2 Connector could release this road space for greater local uses including public transport, pedestrian and cycling activities. what issues will we face?

Brendan Lyon, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia ceo “Even if we haven’t got money, we can preserve the corridors because if we do have money it would save an arm and a leg (in the future),” he said. Infrastructure Partnerships Australia CEO Brendan Lyon said he believed the M5 or F3 to M2 would be built first because of cost.” 23 February 2012 Beyond carrying capacity Complementary Over a decade ago, Pennants Hills Road was infrastructure identified as having a volume to capacity ratio The NSW Government is examining the major beyond its actual road capacity, indicating an infrastructure needed for the long term. economic need for improvement. what issues An airport located north or north-west of Growing populations Sydney would require a complementary Sydney’s population is now expected to grow motorway connection which the F3-M2 from 5.5 million in 2011 to 7.2 million in 2036, Connector provides. or 1.4% per annum. Growth will be faster Similarly, freight infrastructure such as a in the north west with the population will we face? second container port at Newcastle and increasing from around 0.8 million expansion of freight distribution hubs on the to 1.2 million, or 1.8% per annum. Central Coast require connecting Growing freight and infrastructure. When these large infrastructure needs are examined as consumer demand interrelated systems, then the viability and With a growing population in Sydney and imperative of the Connector is strengthened NSW, freight and business service demand and the economic gains maximised. will increase. Commuter transport requires improvement and through the F3-M2 Increasing cost Connector, business and freight traffic of deferral can be diverted and commuters shifted Cost estimates for the Connector have varied into rapid bus transport that is an effective depending on construction assumptions and and attractive alternative. other factors. In 2003, estimates were approximately $1.35 billion while in 2008 they totalled $4.75 billion. The 2008 analysis was undertaken by the NSW Government and full details were not released. Queries remain about this analysis. Nevertheless it is certain that continued deferral of this project increases construction costs and exacerbates the losses currently identified by this paper. Clr Alison McLaren, Western Sydney ROC President “We don’t have the luxury of choosing whether we want the M4 East or the M5 East, or the F3-M2 link – we need them all ... we can afford to borrow – what we can’t afford to do what needs is postpone these urgent projects any longer. ” 1 December 2011 to be done? Strategic prioritisation Funding streams Firstly, the Connector must be recognised Thirdly, funding options must be explored and as a critical project in strategic planning developed. Historic analysis of the Connector for NSW and Australia. has examined both tolled and non-tolled scenarios, and public and private provision options. While there is general acknowledgment Comprehensive analysis that some level of tolling may be required for Secondly, new analysis of the Connector must the Connector, it should be placed in the recognise the wider economic benefits. context of a systematic review of tolling policy Traditional cost benefit analysis that has and rebalancing of toll charges for major previously been applied, has not included the Sydney motorway networks. value of agglomeration, urban amenity, increased business and service reliability, Furthermore, given the demonstrable connectivity to key infrastructure such as national benefits of the F3-M2 Connector, education facilities and hospitals, and unlocking substantial funding should be provided the potential of the future developments. by the Federal Government.

what needs to be done? For more information visit the NSROC website nsroc.com.au or contact:

Carolynne James, NSROC Executive Director PO Box 20, NSW 1595 Phone: 02 9911 3595 Mobile: 0403 150 499 Email: [email protected]