Australian Politics Forum - Abbott Spending Like A Drunken Sailor On Syd Roads

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Abbott Spending Like A Drunken Sailor On Syd Roads
Sep 19^th, 2013 at 10:52am

WORK will start in early 2015 on Sydney's biggest ever motorway project - the 33km West Connex, which will link Western Sydney and South Western Sydney with the city, airport and Port Botany, Premier Barry O'Farrell will announce today.

The cost of the motorway will be $11.5 billion and distance-based tolls will be introduced to pay for the road but up to a maximum cap no greater than that of the M7, of about $7.70.

It will run from Parramatta, to the City West Link, to Alexandria, down to Roselands.

Work on the M4 East element of the road - a 5km, two-way tunnel with three lanes from Homebush Bay Drive to the City West Link - will start by mid-2015 and finish 2019.

Work on the M5 East Airport link - from Beverly Hills to St Peters will start in 2016 and end in 2020.

To join the two to make one motorway, the M4 South will be built - an 8.5km, 2x3 lane tunnel from Haberfield to St Peters. It will start in 2018 with the entire motorway finished 2023.

The existing M4 will also be widened and tolled. Work will begin on taking that road from three to four lanes from January 2015 and be complete by early 2017.

Like the M7, the motorway will operate under distance-based tolling so drivers will be tolled from each entry point, but there will be a cap. In the case of the M7, motorists are charged 36.73 cents per km up to the cap.

The government says the business case for the project shows it will cut the trip from James Ruse Drive to Sydney Airport from 60 to 20 minutes and the journey from the CBD to James Ruse Drive from 50 to 25 minutes.

The government says it also is committed to revitalising the tired Parramatta Rd, which it says will be made possible by an expected 3000 trucks using the M4 East tunnel.

After Infrastructure NSW recommended the road last October, the O'Farrell government has committed $1.8 billion to the project and Prime Minister Tony Abbott $1.5 billion over four years, with most of the rest to come through the private sector via the tolls.

But the government is not ruling out providing more public funds for the project should the tolling not cover the remaining cost.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/green-light-given-for-the-115-billion-...

Where is this budget emergency?

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viewpoint Gold Member Offline A joke is a very serious thing. [Winston] Posts: 2209 Gender:	Re: Abbott Spending Like A Drunken Sailor On Syd Roads Reply #1 - Sep 19^th, 2013 at 10:57am So improving infrastructure and creating jobs at the same time is bad because the Coalition is doing it........ Idiot !
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chicken_lipsforme Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 7090 Townsville NQ Gender:	Re: Abbott Spending Like A Drunken Sailor On Syd Roads Reply #2 - Sep 19^th, 2013 at 11:00am Good move Mr Abbott spending money on essentials. Pity Labor couldn't implement this instead of wasting billions on unusable undersized school canteens and overpriced school halls during the GFC.
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Re: Abbott Spending Like A Drunken Sailor On Syd Roads
Reply #3 - Sep 19^th, 2013 at 11:06am

Ripping billions of cash out of vital services to fund a private motorway is not the way.

Federal government is not in the tunnel business.

Building and then gambling on selling it off for a profit down the track so the winners can then use it as a cash cow to strangle motorists.

Infrastructure includes public transport. What of all the people of sydney who don't drive cars?

Abbott ignores public transport while we are heading straight into a peak oil crisis. By denying people a first world public transport service, Abbott increases the traffic gridlock strangling the city.

Debt and dumb policies ... is this all Abbott has thought up after six years in the wilderness.

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adelcrow Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 20133 everywhere Gender:	Re: Abbott Spending Like A Drunken Sailor On Syd Roads Reply #4 - Sep 19^th, 2013 at 11:06am With all the money made from rego and fuel taxes NSW gets more Toll roads...just how pathetic can the Libs get?
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Ex Dame Pansi Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 24168	Re: Abbott Spending Like A Drunken Sailor On Syd Roads Reply #5 - Sep 19^th, 2013 at 11:07am Hopefully people will be able to bypass it, like they do in Brisbane with Campbell Newman's white elephant. You do realise that by 2015 the debt will have skyrocketed and there will be no billion dollar projects. Watch the debt clock.
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Re: Abbott Spending Like A Drunken Sailor On Syd Roads
Reply #6 - Sep 19^th, 2013 at 11:08am

chicken_lipsforme wrote on Sep 19^th, 2013 at 11:00am:

Good move Mr Abbott spending money on essentials.
Pity Labor couldn't implement this instead of wasting billions on unusable undersized school canteens and overpriced school halls during the GFC.

Building privately owned tunnels ... this is essential to what?

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Vic Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 8313 Melbourne Victoria Gender:	Re: Abbott Spending Like A Drunken Sailor On Syd Roads Reply #7 - Sep 19^th, 2013 at 11:10am Total cost of project 11.5 billion NSW Contribution 1.8 billion FEDS Contribution 1.5 billion Road Users the rest in tolls Enjoy your white elephant boys!!!
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adelcrow

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Re: Abbott Spending Like A Drunken Sailor On Syd Roads
Reply #8 - Sep 19^th, 2013 at 11:10am

____ wrote on Sep 19^th, 2013 at 11:08am:

chicken_lipsforme wrote on Sep 19^th, 2013 at 11:00am:

Good move Mr Abbott spending money on essentials.
Pity Labor couldn't implement this instead of wasting billions on unusable undersized school canteens and overpriced school halls during the GFC.

Building privately owned tunnels ... this is essential to what?

Just look how well the Sydney Tunnel is doing...second time in receivership Grin

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Go the Bunnies

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Ex Dame Pansi Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 24168	Re: Abbott Spending Like A Drunken Sailor On Syd Roads Reply #9 - Sep 19^th, 2013 at 11:31am The debt clock yesterday at 12:05 $4,688,958,565,579 today at 11:20 $4,690,710,853,976 up $2billion dollars overnight Libs are economic vandals. http://www.australiandebtclock.com.au/ Don't forget mining has crashed, we may well be bankrupt by 2015.
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adelcrow

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Re: Abbott Spending Like A Drunken Sailor On Syd Roads
Reply #10 - Sep 19^th, 2013 at 11:35am

Ex Dame Pansi wrote on Sep 19^th, 2013 at 11:31am:

The debt clock

yesterday at 12:05 $4,688,958,565,579

today at 11:20 $4,690,710,853,976

up $2billion dollars overnight

Libs are economic vandals.

http://www.australiandebtclock.com.au/

Don't forget mining has crashed, we may well be bankrupt by 2015.

Its Malcolm Fraser and the late 70's all over again Grin

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Go the Bunnies

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Life_goes_on

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Re: Abbott Spending Like A Drunken Sailor On Syd Roads
Reply #11 - Sep 19^th, 2013 at 11:42am

Quote:

Just look how well the Sydney Tunnel is doing...second time in receivership Grin

I don't see how that's a problem for anybody other than the private operators. They've probably learnt a valuable lesson about the poor investment privately owned roads can be - especially one so expensive to keep running as the SHT.

As long as they continue to keep the tunnel maintained - they have no choice - then the only winner I see is the NSW government who doesn't have to cough up for its upkeep until 2023.

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"You're just one lucky motherf-cker" - Someone, 5th February 2013

Num num num num.

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Sir lastnail

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Re: Abbott Spending Like A Drunken Sailor On Syd Roads
Reply #12 - Sep 19^th, 2013 at 11:47am

viewpoint wrote on Sep 19^th, 2013 at 10:57am:

So improving infrastructure and creating jobs at the same time is bad because the Coalition is doing it........

Idiot !

How about a train line from the city to the Melbourne airport ??

How long have victorians been asking for this ?? Sad

Instead the libbos are creating more roads for more polluting and outdated mode of transport Sad

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Lord Herbert

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Re: Abbott Spending Like A Drunken Sailor On Syd Roads
Reply #13 - Sep 19^th, 2013 at 11:50am

Madness.

This is a very dumb move by Abbott.

Every Sydneysider knows that a far greater priority are more beds, staffing-levels, and medical equipment in our public hospitals; upgrading and streamlining of our public transport; more parking space in the CBD; a big increase in police personnel; and bringing our Sydney ferries into the 20th century.

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Ex Dame Pansi

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Re: Abbott Spending Like A Drunken Sailor On Syd Roads
Reply #14 - Sep 19^th, 2013 at 11:51am

Green light given for the $11.5 billion West Connex motorway

No one in their right mind could think this is a good idea. Major arterial roads in cities is so yesterday. By the time they're finished, more lanes will be needed.

Can we have at least one city with a metro system.....please.

Good, fast, cheap and efficient public transport is what's needed.

Readers comments:

The world has moved on, it is the 21st century where cities are ripping out motorways (see Seoul, South Korea) and improving commute outcomes as a consequence (by building proper public transport in its place). But then again, we just voted to be in the 20th century not 21st so I guess we will get what we deserve!
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2015 will come and go and this wont be started ... the govt will have some poor excuse ... then re-announce it 5 years later and then try and tell us theyre doing a great job ... cost will blow out and then this govt will blame labor ... yawn ... next
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another government cash grab at its finest. There is no way i would pay $7.70 to use a road that needed this to be done many years ago. if all we do is get charged to use a PUBLIC road then why do we have to pay high rego fees, high fuel fees. M4 tolls were removed a few years ago to ease driver pain, yes it added some congestion but it was tollerable as you werent being charged to sit in it. All the rego fees and taxes we pay here should make up for the cost of this road on its own. NSW already pays high road taxes which none actually get used on roads its the biggest joke in history
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The WasteConnex is madness, lacks any vision and is not part of any long-term, 100-year transport plan . The WasteConnex is another short-term, 20-year, isolated, ad hoc state plan with no relationship to more significant transport options. Sydney needs LESS congestion, especially in the inner west areas, not MORE congestion. The government illogically wants taxpayers to pay $11,500.000.000 so we can have more congestion. As I said, its madness. The answer of course is to build strategic Tier One metro lines in the areas of highest priority for Sydney. See Singapore MTR.
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Finished 2020 not likely say 2025 with 10 years of traffic mayhem. Cost will blow out to $15 billion + access to better public transport continual buses running down at street level with 1 car lane and 1 bus lane they have to be joking will be the same as is now. If they are going under Parramatta Rd with tunnel you cannot physically put 3 lanes each way under it unless the tunnel extends out to the building line under the existing footpath and to do that costs will skyrocket and engineering marvels will have to be put in. You may get a few short sections looking like "artists impression" but most will be 2 lane road to footpath then existing buildings and a few new ones. Only improvements to public transport will be buses running down surface road on what would be needed is a 24hour bus lane.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/green-light-given-for-the-115-billion-...

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andrei said: Great isn't it? Seeing boatloads of what is nothing more than human garbage turn up.....

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