$100m to help commuters but long-term fix a work in progress

An array of short-term fixes to Perth’s traffic congestion woes are under development while the state government works on a strategy for the longer term.

The state government has committed more than $100 million in the 2012-13 budget to immediately improving Perth’s commuter transport but is yet to confirm how it will tackle the issue in the long term.

An independent draft report written for the Department of Transport last year estimated congestion in Perth cost $1 billion in 2009 – a figure authors of the Public Transport for Perth in 2031 report expected to more than double to $2.1 billion by 2020.

Alongside the pressure an increasing population is putting on CBD transport infrastructure, is the Perth Waterfront development, which will close key traffic routes and place more pressure on surrounding roads.

The closure of Riverside Drive between Barrack Street and William Street to allow work on the waterfront development next year is set to push 14,500 more vehicles a day through the Graham Farmer Freeway tunnel.

Within 10 years total traffic through the tunnel is anticipated to increase 30 per cent to about 130,000 vehicles a day.

As a short-term fix, the government has allocated $57 million to increase capacity through the tunnel; converting the existing emergency lanes into third lanes in both directions.

It will also pay for an expansion to the Mitchell Freeway so another lane is added between the tunnel exit and Vincent Street and construction of a new on-ramp under Loftus street.

Construction will begin in July, with additional lanes through the tunnel expected to be in operation by May 2013 – ahead of the diversion of Riverside Drive beginning in mid-2013.

The project is in addition to more than $450 million worth of developments already under way, including the $58 million widening of the Kwinana Freeway, $350 million being spent on widening the Great Eastern Highway between Kooyong Road and Tonkin Highway and adding lanes to the Mitchell Freeway, north of the city.

Main Roads is also investigating extending the Mitchell Freeway beyond Burns Beach Road to service the increasing population in the northern suburbs.

Attention has also been paid to the northern suburbs, with the extension of the Joondalup rail line from Clarkson to Butler – a project costing $240 million and due to be completed by the end of 2014. It’s expected more than 2000 people will board at Butler every day.

In addition to investment in easing the flow of traffic in and out of the city and providing more facilities to outlying areas, is the $955 million Gateway WA project, on which construction is expected to begin mid-way through next year.

The project is planned to improve connections between the city’s key industrial hubs, help solve freight transport issues and improve access to Perth airport.

However, problems still arise at either end of such infrastructure developments; while the extension of the Joondalup line, for instance, is beneficial, what facilities are provided for those 2,000 people expected to board the train at Butler and then emerge at the other end?

The government was forced to allocate an additional $50 million in funding for 3,000 more park and ride spaces along both the Joondalup and Mandurah lines when the number of parks was found to be insufficient.

To service the other end, it has announced plans to add another CAT service to ease congestion around Perth Underground station; a Green CAT will run between the Esplanade and Leederville via West Perth from July 2013.

In the meantime, an additional three buses are being added to the Red CAT service in the hope it will ease pressure from commuters travelling to the west of the city.

But that will do little to aid commuter demand in the central city if transport minister Troy Buswell’s plans for a light-rail network proceed.

Mr Buswell has confirmed the government’s longer-term strategy to solve commuter issues include establishing a light-rail network between the CBD and Mirrabooka.

He told WA Business News $5 million of planning money had already been spent on investigating the light-rail route to the north-east of the city, which the government decided was the preferred route despite strong lobbying for a line between the University of Western Australia and Curtin University via the CBD.

“Our decision, and for very good reasons, is that we will service Mirrabooka and that north-east corridor first,” Mr Buswell said.

“There are high population densities there, significant congestion problems getting into and out of the city and significant pressure from those residents on parking and broader congestion in the CBD.

“I think we’re going to get good bang for our buck by pursuing light rail into that north-eastern corridor, other people may advocate an expansion of that route in a very short period of time, but the reality is that those people often operate without the fiscal constraints of government.” 

Mr Buswell said planning the line could take about three years and construction a further two years. The government would also investigate how the line could then be fanned out into the CBD.

The minister would not be drawn on where funding for the network would come from or the potential total cost of the project.

However, last year’s draft report on Perth public transport estimated light rail infrastructure costing $1 billion.

The Committee for Perth had strongly advocated establishing a “knowledge arc” light rail between UWA and Curtin, which chief executive Marion Fulker said would be more beneficial because it linked key user groups together.

Ms Fulker said light rail was a “game changer” in improving transport in the city.

“Putting more buses and more rail carriages into our heavy rail system, expanding some roads, putting in more cycle ways and making it easier for people to get into the city – all of those things will work in the short term and alleviate some of the congestion, but we see light rail as being the critical infrastructure that will make the difference,” she said.

Ms Fulker said transport in the city had become more of a problem in recent years and not just for commuters.

“I live south of the river and it takes me 15 minutes to drive to the office in non-peak hour; (during peak hour) it’s taking between 45 minutes to an hour just for me, so I can see a difference,” she said.

“I think it’s going to be more of an issue; particularly without any major change – at the moment all we’re doing is adding to our existing infrastructure – light rail is a game changer.”

Mr Buswell said the department was still confirming its long-term strategy for public transport but expected to have a final plan to 2031 published by the middle of this year.

In the meantime, new investment in “active traffic management” is intended to reduce CBD congestion by acting on traffic disruptions such as crashes, breakdowns and illegal parking.

The idea is to use $16 million of the city’s parking levy fund to pay for additional CCTV cameras at key intersections around the inner city to identify disruptions and enable Main Roads’ traffic operations centre to manage traffic lights accordingly and dispatch incident response vehicles.

The total $105 million for CBD traffic improvements in this year’s budget will also pay for establishing bus priority lanes along Beaufort Street, William Street and Mounts Bay Road, which was advocated in last year’s independent Public Transport for Perth in 2031 report.

The report stated that as Perth’s population grew, use of public transport was also expected to increase; accounting for one in five journeys made during peak morning traffic, 30 per cent of the total distance travelled during peak hours and 70 per cent of all transport in the CBD within 20 years.

The report proposed extending more of the heavy rail network to further areas both north and south of the city; ultimately up to Yanchep and down to Byford on the Armadale line.

The RAC has said the government needs to make progress on establishing a plan for such heavy rail developments, or risk expensive land purchase and retrofit costs.

 “It is essential the public transport infrastructure is planned to coincide with development rather than follow it, to avoid vehicle use becoming established as the main mode of transit in new communities,” the RAC said in its submission on the draft plan for Perth public transport.