http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/daniel-andrews-announces-second-river-crossing-freeway-costing-5b-to-be-built-by-2020-20150430-1mwm4j.html
Daniel Andrews announces second river crossing freeway costing $5b to be built by 2020
April 30, 2015 - 6:58PM, Josh Gordon, Richard Willingham.
Surprise 'West Gate Tunnel' unveiled
Only weeks after Daniel Andrews officially ended the East West Link, Victoria's premier unexpectedly unveils a road proposal very similar to the second stage of the now defunct project.
Travel time from the West Gate Freeway to the city would be halved under a surprise plan to build a $5.5 billion toll road across the Maribyrnong River to CityLink.
Just days before the May 5 state budget, Premier Daniel Andrews has revealed he is seriously considering an unsolicited bid by CityLink operator Transurban to connect the West Gate Freeway to CityLink via a tunnel, a second river crossing and an elevated freeway along Footscray Road.
With $3 billion in federal funds sitting idle after the scrapping of the East West Link, Mr Andrews has challenged Prime Minister Tony Abbott to contribute to the new road project.
But Assistant Infrastructure Minister Jamie Briggs has given a tepid response, saying it would be highly unusual for the Commonwealth to pay for the project if the state did not also stump up.
The West Gate Freeway will also be widened under the plan, with two extra lanes in each direction from the M80 Ring Road to the West Gate Bridge boosting capacity by about half.
But while the proposal is not expected to cost the state budget anything, motorists will ultimately pay for extra tolls.
Transurban is proposing to pay for the project by extending the life of CityLink tolls by up to 15 years until 2050 – which would be likely to earn between $1.5 and $2 billion from motorists.
Transurban also wants a $3 car toll and a $13 truck toll for the new tunnel and bridge for 25 years, which would also be likely to boost its profits by at least $1.5 billion.
Crucially, the project proposes to funnel some traffic from a new elevated tollway into what is already a city choke-point in Docklands, at the corner of Footscray Road and Harbour Esplanade.
The Abbott government will also be asked to chip in federal money previously earmarked for the dumped East West Link, with $1.5 billion sitting unused in the state budget.
An independent assessment by consultants Deloitte Access Economics estimated the $5 to $5.5 billion project would return $1.60 for every $1 invested using a basic methodology preferred by Infrastructure Australia, or about $2 after including so-called wider economic benefits.
The project, expected to create up to 3500 construction jobs and 4500 indirect jobs, could start as soon as this year, to be completed by 2020.
The Abbott government had not been warned of Thursday's road announcement. Mr Briggs said if the project was to qualify for federal money it would be contingent on Infrastructure Australia assessing a full business case.
Mr Briggs said the Andrews government needed to get on with tackling the congestion that was "already stifling Victoria's economic growth and prosperity".
Transurban chief executive Scott Charlton said the proposal was much more efficient as a solution to Melbourne's transport problems than the previous proposal for the western half of the East West Link, which would have cost more than $10 billion.
It is expected to almost halve travel time to the city from the M80 and the M1.
Trips to the port will be up to three times faster, but a new truck toll will be applied for heavy vehicles using the West Gate Freeway. That means trucks will be discouraged from using the overburdened West Gate Bridge, removing up to 50 per cent of heavy vehicles from local roads.
If the surprise plan is locked in following six months of negotiations between Transurban and the state government, Labor's previous plan for a West Gate Bridge truck off-ramp will be defunct. Despite this, the off-ramp will still be included in the May 5 state budget.
Opposition treasury spokesman Michael O'Brien said the announcement was a sign of "policy panic", chaos and dysfunction.
"This is an idea with no secure funding attached, an idea to deliver another freeway that ends in a tee intersection in Melbourne," Mr O'Brien said. "This will create further congestion, further chaos. Mr Andrews has not submitted a business case to Infrastructure Australia because there is no business case."
Labor previously promised all big projects would be scrutinised by its yet-to-be set up infrastructure adviser, Infrastructure Victoria. However, in this case, that scrutiny will not apply.
Maribyrnong mayor Nam Quach said the new river crossing would be a boon to the inner west.
"The inner west is really smashed by through transport and long container trucks using the inner suburbs as a rat run," he said. "Any infrastructure that's going to alleviate that is certainly very welcome, so long as this is done properly."
The truck industry's peak body, the Victorian Transport Association, welcomed the proposal but said it was a concern that a publicly listed company appeared to have a bigger hand in planning Melbourne's freeway network than the state government.
"We need to know what the government is thinking about and that's difficult if they're hiding behind dealing with a publicly listed company, [saying] we can't tell people before we announce it, that doesn't sit well because we can't plan anything," association president Peter Anderson said.
The RACV's general manager of public policy said the project would provide a much-needed upgrade to the West Gate Freeway and significantly defer the need to build the western part of the East West Link.
Also on Thursday, Transurban announced changes to the $1.3 billion widening of the Tullamarine Freeway, announced under the previous government. The new plan, to cost taxpayers around $300 million, was necessary as a result of the East West Link being dumped. Builders Leighton have been selected to do the work.
