Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 6 Hansard (15 June) . . Page.. 1847 ..

Information provided to the Select Committee on Estimates 2001-2002 was that the estimated cost of the GDE/Barton Highway intersection was $5m (assuming no Commonwealth government funding was available).

So on the basis of the above figures, the cost of the three grade-separated interchanges would add $10m to the cost of the eastern alignment [taking it to around $32m] and $11m-$12m to the cost of the western alignment [taking it to $36m-$40m].

Point 3

Save the Ridges asks 'why did the committee put so much credence to the costing provided by Maunsell in January 2001...'?

The committee did not give excessive credence to this information; it simply reproduced the information at paragraphs 13.7 to 13.10 of the report and noted, when drawing together all pieces of evidence taken during the inquiry, that 'the evidence presented in the course of the inquiry indicates that the eastern alignment is cheaper than the western alignment' [see paragraph 13.40 of the report].

Point 4

Save the Ridges asks 'why did the committee accept the inclusion of $3m in the cost of 'other works' (Masterman Street etc) which are unrelated to the western option per se?'

The committee did not definitively accept the inclusion of these costs but noted that, if they are included they do take the estimated cost of the western option from the $24.7m stated above [in paragraph 13] to approximately $28m. This is the basis on which the committee concluded that ' an estimate of approximately $25m-$28m in not unreasonable for the western alignment' [paragraph 13.38]. Even the lower estimate for the cost of the western route is more than the estimated cost of the eastern alignment.

Point 5

Save the Ridge asks why the committee did not mention 'the significant cost savings afforded by a 100 kph freeway standard road...'?

The committee points out that both the Maunsell Study and the government assumed a 80 kph speed limit over the whole length of the GDE. The committee did not receive evidence that the western route is capable of 100 kph; further, the committee is aware of design constraints (involving the intersections of both Ginninderra Drive and Belconnen Way) which may not allow such speeds. Also, the committee is not aware of how a speed limit of 100 kph would produce 'significant cost savings', given that the 'cost savings' of a freeway-type road are said to come from a steady, uninterrupted flow of traffic (whether it is travelling at 80 kph or 100 kph) rather than from simply travelling at a faster speed.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .