Easter drivers caught in a traffic jam on the Great Western Highway near Wentworth Falls. Picture: Matthew Sullivan Source: The Daily Telegraph
MOST of the $1.8 billion promised yesterday to build the WestConnex has not been allocated until 2019-20, with the majority of the funding not likely to be delivered for 10 years.
Sydney will get its biggest transport infrastructure funding promise in the six-year life of the Labor government - $400 million for the F3-M2 and $1.8 billion for the WestConnex. But Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese's office admitted $1.4 billion of the $1.8 billion of funding for the $10 billion WestConnex would be delivered from 2019-20 to 2023-24.
The remaining $400 million would be funded between 2014-15 and 2018-19.
Mr Albanese yesterday gave excuses ranging from the fact it was a 10-year project and it takes time to build such large projects, to the time frame was what the state government wanted.
NSW Treasurer Mike Baird said last night: "This appears to be confirmation that the Gillard government is not committed to the WestConnex project or the people of western Sydney."
A spokesman for Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said his $1.5 billion promise for the motorway would be delivered by 2016-17.
"The only way to fund WestConnex and have it built is to elect a Coalition government," the spokesman said.
"It will be under way within 12 months of the election."
As The Daily Telegraph revealed last week, $400 million has been promised by the federal government for the F3 to M2 and will be paid by 2018-19, with some money still outside the Budget "forward estimates" years, which finish in 2016-17.
A matching contribution from the NSW government and money from private firm Transurban to be funded by tolls should lead to the F3-M2 being completed by 2018-19.
The WestConnex promise is so far away that Labor could be back in power by the time it is delivered, with polling tipping the government to lose office in September.
Sydney is again the poor cousin to Melbourne when it comes to infrastructure funding, with the Melbourne Metro in line for $3 billion and the widening of the M80 motorway to three lanes getting $525 million. Of the Melbourne Metro money, $1 billion is to be paid by 2018-19 and $2 billion between 2019-20 and 2023-24.
Mr Albanese promised the WestConnex money in response to Mr Abbott's $1.5 billion pledge.
He defended the slow delivery of funding and denied it had anything to do with the federal government not having the money.
"That is what we have been requested to do by the NSW government," Mr Albanese said yesterday.
"We are funding right now the planning for this project and the planning has to be done first."
As foreshadowed, Mr Albanese put three conditions on the funding of the WestConnex - the state government must "finalise a detailed business case for assessment by Infrastructure Australia", ensure the final proposal provides direct links to the city and the port and that there must be an agreement not to impose new tolls on old roads.
The third condition could be a sticking point as the state government wants to widen the existing M4 and introduce tolls to pay for the new road.
"These two major projects (the WestConnex and F3 to M2) add to the unprecedented $3.2 billion investment this government is already making in Sydney's road and rail infrastructure, which is almost 10 times more than what our predecessors spent during their 12 years in office," Mr Albanese said.
The Sydney motorway funding was part of hundreds of millions of infrastructure money unlocked around the country. Mr Swan had warned in his Budget speech that: "Traffic congestion costs commuters time with their families and is estimated to cost our economy up to $20 billion a year by 2020 if not addressed."
Also announced in the Budget for NSW was:
AN "F3 productivity package" worth $195.8 million, widening the F3 between Tuggerah and Doyalson and between Kariong and Somersby;
A $40 million Port Botany upgrade program including duplication of the Port Botany rail line;
A $75 million upgrade of the Port Botany rail line; and
ROAD projects around the state including $60 million for construction of the Bega bypass and $42 million for Mount Ousley Rd upgrades.
No comments:
Post a Comment