Submission: M5 Corridor Upgrade
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SUBMISSION: M5 CORRIDOR UPGRADE March 2010 Infrastructure Partnerships Australia is SUBMISSION: a national forum, comprising public M5 CORRIDOR UPGRADE and private sector CEO Members, advocating the public policy interests of Australia’s infrastructure industry. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: LARRY MCGRATH MANAGER, POLICY INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERSHIPS AUSTRALIA Level 8, 8-10 Loftus Street, Sydney NSW 2000 PO Box R1804, Royal Exchange NSW 1225 P | 02 9240 2056 E | [email protected] 2 SUBMISSION: M5 CORRIDOR UPGRADE CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................ 5 1.1 – INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERSHIPS AUSTRALIA .......................................................... 5 1.2 – BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................... 5 2. THE M5 UPGRADE ....................................................................................................... 7 2.1 BACKGROUND TO THE UPGRADE................................................................................. 7 2.2 – THE CONTINUED NEED FOR ROADS.......................................................................... 7 2.2.1 – Growth of the Freight Task............................................................................. 8 2.2.2 – Passenger and Population Growth............................................................... 10 2.3 – M5 WIDENING ....................................................................................................... 10 2.4 – M5 EAST DUPLICATION.......................................................................................... 11 2.5 – M5 EASTERN SURFACE LINK.................................................................................. 12 2.6 – THE NEED FOR TOLLING REFORM .......................................................................... 12 3. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................. 14 3 SUBMISSION: M5 CORRIDOR UPGRADE RECOMMENDATIONS 1. The NSW Government continues to undertake community and industry consultation with a view to finalising approval for this project as soon as possible, recognising the critical nature of the corridor upgrade to alleviate congestion and provide for future freight and passenger growth. 2. The NSW Government immediately prioritises the widening of the M5 South West Motorway in partnership with the private sector. 3. The NSW Government allocates funding for the construction of the M5 East duplication, bringing it into a five year timeframe. 4. Further consideration is given to the implementation of a network tolling regime for the Sydney Orbital Network, in line with the model proposed in IPA’s recent paper, Urban Transport Challenge: Driving Reform on Sydney’s Roads, to improve demand management and drive new investment in transport infrastructure. This should also investigate a ‘corridor’ network tolling approach for the M5 South West, M5 East and Eastern Distributor corridor. 5. Urgent progress is now also required for Sydney’s M4 East, and the F3 to Sydney Orbital, and it would be prudent for the NSW Government to begin obtaining planning approval for these missing links as well as the M5 Corridor. 4 SUBMISSION: M5 CORRIDOR UPGRADE 1. Introduction 1.1 – Infrastructure Partnerships Australia Infrastructure Partnerships Australia (IPA) is the nation’s peak infrastructure organisation. Our Membership is comprised of Australia’s most senior business leaders and public sector executives from across the infrastructure sector. IPA is the only industry body which brings together the public and private sectors in a spirit of partnership, to build Australia together. Infrastructure is the lifeblood of the national economy. It is the key to how Australia does business, how we compete in the global economy and how we sustain the quality of life of a growing population. IPA’s mission is to develop and articulate the best public policy solutions needed to deliver the assets and services that will secure Australia’s productivity and prosperity. IPA is committed to ensure that governments retain all procurement options for the delivery of infrastructure. We believe that procurement models must be selected case by case, with a guiding principle of sustainably delivering better value, better quality infrastructure. 1.2 – Background New South Wales is Australia’s most populous State, and the nation’s financial centre. Yet progress of critical reform and development of infrastructure has been slow and ad hoc, threatening continued economic prosperity, productivity and liveability. The road network of New South Wales is one of the country’s most significant, consisting of 17,932 kilometres of State Roads, 5051 bridges and 3690 traffic signals and other traffic facilities. The Sydney Orbital Motorway Network incorporates a mix of public and privately owned and operated roadways, and a mix of tolled and untolled sections. All untolled segments are publicly owned and principally include links between the CBD and the major outer- metropolitan motorway links. These untolled links include the Gore Hill and Warringah Freeways as well as Southern Cross Drive and the M5 East, as well as the M4. Analysts recently estimated the corridor has an economic value of $22.7 billion and contributes more than $2 billion to the New South Wales economy each year. The largest road project currently under construction in Sydney is the Inner West Busway, which is critically important, but has a capital value of less than $200 million. This lack of major projects being undertaken in Sydney is not due to the road network operating optimally, but is rather the result of constrained balance sheets which have forced the stalling of urgently required new motorways. 5 SUBMISSION: M5 CORRIDOR UPGRADE New South Wales urgently requires a new, rigorous and joined-up approach to planning and procuring future infrastructure. This new planning paradigm would fully link infrastructure development and land-use planning, ensuring that it meets the needs of a growing population in a sustainable and responsible manner. Bold decisions are required around where Sydney will grow – the densities that will be required – and the infrastructure which will support this growth. The sheer level of infrastructure required means that all procurement and financing options must be on the table to deliver the next generation of economic and social infrastructure. In spite of a disappointing history of variable, changing transport priorities, it is in the national interest that New South Wales addresses its infrastructure shortfalls. Infrastructure Partnerships Australia is therefore pleased to be able to make the following comments on the M5 Corridor Upgrade. 6 SUBMISSION: M5 CORRIDOR UPGRADE 2. The M5 Upgrade 2.1 Background to the Upgrade The M5 Corridor is a critical component of the Sydney Orbital Motorway, yet it is currently not operating to optimal performance due to a lack of capacity in the road estate. The Corridor as described consists of the privately owned and operated M5 South West Motorway and the publicly owned M5 East Freeway. Since the opening of the M5 South West Motorway in 1992, traffic numbers have continuously risen to the point where widening of the motorway is now the only course of action to reduce congestion, improve traffic times and reduce emissions. Similarly, the M5 East has been the subject of sustained congestion since the time of opening, due to the tunnel being designed only having two lanes in each direction, which is clearly insufficient. Between 2006-07 and 2007-08, average speeds on the M5 Corridor in the AM peak declined from 40km/h to 34km/h. In the PM peak, all major corridors in Sydney recorded an increase in average travel speeds except for the M5 Corridor, further heightening the need for this road to have additional capacity. Since then, traffic across all corridors has experienced improved travel times due to general improvements to the network, however speeds remain unacceptably low. Any upgrade of the M5 Corridor is likely to attract significant private sector interest and investment, and there is the potential for the corridor upgrade to be undertaken with only minor costs to the State Government. 2.2 – The Continued Need for Roads The argument that new roads are not required and that all funds should be directed to public transport ignores a number of important issues: 1. The future freight growth in New South Wales is predicted to be extremely significant, and while rail will inevitably play a greater role than it currently does, semi-trailers and light commercial vehicles will always be needed to undertake ‘last mile’ distribution; 2. Public transport cannot meet the demands of every passenger trip, and will always account for only a small portion of trips which are not ‘journey to work’; 3. The population in Sydney is set to grow dramatically over the next several decades, and Sydney is expected to house at least 7 million people by 2050; 4. While peak oil and a growing concern and awareness over carbon emissions will inevitably present challenges to travel, it is short-sighted to consider that these challenges will alleviate the need for roads; and 5. One of the most important modes of public transport – buses – as well as taxis, operate on the road network and depend on an effective and efficient road system. 7 SUBMISSION: M5 CORRIDOR UPGRADE There will always