OK, been probably 10mths since I wrote about local news in Australia and you're all probably sick of my banal tales of Dubai etc, so here is something to hark back to my old roots of why this blog existed.
This article is one such article that makes my blood boil... when I lived in Sydney, the M4 was an unbearable mess and the traffic grind to get from the mountains to Sydney (well Strathfield, where the M4 inexplicably ends some 20km short of the city) was ridiculous. Having seen roads in Dubai where highways are anything between 4 and 7 lanes, the 2-3 lane M4 is a nightmare and worse still you had to pay for it.
I do acknowledge however that of all the toll roads, its cheaper and that the traffic is not as bad as say the M2 in morning peek, however it was still a bad road.
Then this article... in which finally the toll will be removed, and they claim (and who are 'they'?) that the "effect of removing the toll will see an additional 2000 cars an hour on the road".
But read the detail again... 1500 of that is from "natural growth"... 500 cars for the toll lift itself. So "they" are wrong. Exaggerated headlines profiling doom and gloom if we stop giving $2.50 a trip. What a load of crap.
A word of advice to the NSW government... build the M4 East. Make it 6 lanes and demolish everything in its path. Widen the existing M4 and M2 to also 6 lanes (each way!) and again, demolish everything it its path.
The costs to buy real estate and compensate those directly effected will be minimal when considering you will future proof Sydney for the next 100+ yrs. How much money has been sucked up by 3x3 cent petrol taxes and PPP driven toll charges over the past 30 years? And what have we got for it? Proverbial side streets in which speeds of 30km/h are deemed as "flying along".
Current infrastructure planning in Sydney needs a good overhaul!
This article is one such article that makes my blood boil... when I lived in Sydney, the M4 was an unbearable mess and the traffic grind to get from the mountains to Sydney (well Strathfield, where the M4 inexplicably ends some 20km short of the city) was ridiculous. Having seen roads in Dubai where highways are anything between 4 and 7 lanes, the 2-3 lane M4 is a nightmare and worse still you had to pay for it.
I do acknowledge however that of all the toll roads, its cheaper and that the traffic is not as bad as say the M2 in morning peek, however it was still a bad road.
Then this article... in which finally the toll will be removed, and they claim (and who are 'they'?) that the "effect of removing the toll will see an additional 2000 cars an hour on the road".
But read the detail again... 1500 of that is from "natural growth"... 500 cars for the toll lift itself. So "they" are wrong. Exaggerated headlines profiling doom and gloom if we stop giving $2.50 a trip. What a load of crap.
A word of advice to the NSW government... build the M4 East. Make it 6 lanes and demolish everything in its path. Widen the existing M4 and M2 to also 6 lanes (each way!) and again, demolish everything it its path.
The costs to buy real estate and compensate those directly effected will be minimal when considering you will future proof Sydney for the next 100+ yrs. How much money has been sucked up by 3x3 cent petrol taxes and PPP driven toll charges over the past 30 years? And what have we got for it? Proverbial side streets in which speeds of 30km/h are deemed as "flying along".
Current infrastructure planning in Sydney needs a good overhaul!
4 comments:
why do we need roads going to the cbd?
^ OB
The big problem is the issue needs a long-term solution and politicians only need worry about the next 3 years. Not the most conducive environment for long-term change.
There is a difference OB between new roads and making the existing roads work.
To have the M2 as 2 lanes and charge in excess of $4 for the privilige is ridiculous.
And if you want to keep the roads as is, thats fine, but invest in rail and other infrastructure... and a $5bn link to Balmain doesnt count.
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