Letter to the editor Dear Sir, With the announcement last week of the calling of tenders for the Gateway lane additions, I suggest we pause for a moment and consider where our current policies on transport and freight are leading us, and at what cost. We should look at the $1.2billion for 10.9 kms of road and wonder if, at $110,000 per meter, there is not a more cost effective way to achieve our aims. The incredibly high costs of the various tunnels and roads have become a modern day scandal and when we wish to investigate these high costs we are met with the phrase, “commercial in confidence”. We know, for example, that rail is generally much cheaper to construct than roads, with a cost per kilometre for 2 lines of around $15m to $30m per km as opposed to $110m per kilometre on the gateway. We know that one reason for the Gateway to be so expensive is that there is a lot of fill needed due to the soft nature of the coastal plain, but that, while significant, does not fully account for the high cost. I would suggest that the community need to look at our transport options. Rail is far more effective than road for transporting large quantities of freight (eg Coal trains) and is very much more efficient at moving large numbers of commuters during peak hour. That rail is cheaper and much more environmentally friendly, both to build and operate, is a bonus. While most of us rely on our cars to some extent, nonetheless, when we are faced with the incredible costs to the community for us to continue to do this with no restrictions, we must look again to other solutions. In the case of public commuter transport there is very strong argument for making all public transport free, including busses, reducing reliance on cars and thus reducing the incredible costs of road building, maintenance and accident costs. Hasselt in Belgium made this reform 20 years ago and has not looked back. There has to be a better way than spending $110,000 for a meter of travel space. This is especially the case when we consider that, as a nation, we are reducing our commitment to “social” infrastructure in favour of physical infrastructure. Mike Crook 14/145 Northcote St. Brighton 4017 0413119956.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 21:55:03 +0000
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