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Graham Farmer Freeway, a Saviour of Sorts

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Graham Farmer Freeway, a Saviour of Sorts February 15, 2016 Graham Farmer Freeway, a saviour of sorts Over budget, underground, outdated 1960’s thinking to reduce traffic congestion, a threat to the environment and Northbridge’s character and community. These are just some of the numerous criticisms that were levelled at the more than $400 million Graham Farmer Freeway and the Northbridge Tunnel. Controversial from the start, the Graham Farmer Freeway is the focus of the latest What We Thought Would Kill Us case study, released today by the Committee for Perth. “I don’t think the people of Perth could imagine getting around the city and the metropolitan area without the Graham Farmer Freeway and the Northbridge Tunnel,” said Committee for Perth CEO, Marion Fulker. “Supporters argued it would provide a balanced transport future by promoting walking and urban renewal in Northbridge, help connect the city to the Swan River and most importantly, reduce congestion. “While the east-west Graham Farmer Freeway lets cars bypass the city centre, it hasn’t prevented an increase in congestion in and around the CBD and on the freeways. But this is hardly surprising, given the number of vehicles using the freeway has far outstripped predictions. “Prior to opening in April 2000, it was forecast that approximately 80,000 vehicles would use the bypass by 2021. In reality, the freeway carried between 60,000 and 80,000 vehicles a day, in its first few months. Today, approximately 115,000 vehicles use it every day. To cope with demand, in 2013, extra lanes were added in both directions on the Freeway and the Northbridge Tunnel, and a new on-ramp was added to the Mitchell Freeway northbound. “While this has helped, it hasn’t solved Perth’s unignorable congestion problem. There are projections that without substantial additional investment in Perth’s transport system the cost of congestion to our economy will be up to $16 billion a year by 2031.” Of the 747 submissions received during the projects’ consultation period, 391 supported it, 95 supported it with some modifications and 218 vehemently opposed it. The critics included residents, politicians, transport campaigners and land use planning and transport experts, who argued that it wrongly encouraged people to use cars, was too expensive, outdated and obsolete and that efficient public transport should be a priority. But it was the 1.6 kilometre Northbridge Tunnel that was the most controversial part of the project. Detractors said that the tunnel and trench would be ‘noisy, smelly and unpleasant’ and the project would lead to ‘the destruction of parkland…the loss of popular youth venues and the eviction of students, artists and less-affluent persons from the Northbridge area.’ “What generated extra controversy and negative media coverage was the need to demolish 58 properties above the Tunnel. There was also the issue of dewatering. Thirty five properties were damaged by subsidence and it was three years after the Freeway opened that the last out-of-court settlements were made by the State Government and contractors,” Mrs Fulker added. “Another issue championed by critics was the project’s environmental approval process. The Northern City Bypass was WA’s biggest road project, yet the Department of Environmental Protection took a little over three hours to assess the impact on Perth's environment. But the issues of air pollution, water table damage and animal and plant life were ignored in the report.” While the report found that the State Government did carry-out formal and informal community consultation, there wasn’t enough, especially early in the planning process and during the assessment of the environmental and heritage impacts. “While hindsight is a wonderful thing, extra consultation might have helped to ensure that the social and economic benefits of the Freeway and Tunnel were better understood and the environmental impacts of the project were identified. Had this happened, it could have reduced the potential for controversy surrounding the project,” Mrs Fulker said. -ends- Media contact: Tony Monaghan, The Brand Agency 0428 280 593 2 .
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