Page 2221 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 22 June 2011
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The government argues that a new freeway will improve safety. But in fact the evidence suggests that multilane freeways will not improve our accident statistics. Freeways cause people to drive further, to drive more often and to stop using other modes of transport such as public transport. This in turn increases the risk of crashes.
Canberra’s accident statistics back this up. Significantly more crashes occur on our wider dual-carriageway roads than on the existing Majura Road. Again, the key way to improve road safety is to provide convenient public transport alternatives, which are much safer than car travel. A modal shift to public transport is the best way to improve safety for Canberrans, followed by initiatives such as speed checks, random breath testing and programs to change driving culture.
Then there is the government’s argument about freight. The government’s plan to make Canberra, and specifically the airport, a hub for freight is not one that will benefit Canberrans in the long run. A new Majura freeway might help the airport but it will not solve the emerging congestion problems facing Canberrans. The ACT Chief Minister partly acknowledged this when she said the Majura freeway is “an infrastructure project that is essentially for the nation”. She said:
We’ve got plenty of other infrastructure projects we need to fund from this tax base.
These other infrastructure projects could be high-speed, high-quality public transport solutions. This would put Canberra’s tax revenue into projects which directly benefit Canberrans. The freight growth is short-sighted and does not take account of the critical way our economy must and will change in the future. We must focus on building a green economy rather than relying on industries built around road and air-based freight.
We have heard a lot of noise from the government recently about the need to build a new freeway in order to stop freight travelling through urban Canberra. But we revealed recently that the government has no data on the amount of freight travelling through urban Canberra, where that freight originates, or how much would be diverted by a new freeway. Without this data, the government is making a supposition, at best—certainly not a justification for a $288 million freeway.
The Greens’ argument is that the best way to create real transport solutions—solutions that will contribute to a convenient, sustainable and equitable Canberra—is to invest seriously in a rapid, high-capacity public transport network. Public transport such as light rail or prioritised high-capacity buses could carry hundreds of passengers from Gungahlin to key destinations in a single trip. It would be faster than driving, and a new public transport route like this would attract commuters who may formerly have driven on Majura Road, freeing up its capacity for those people who do need to drive.
The $144 million the ACT government has committed to a freeway would go a long way to funding a light rail system between Gungahlin, Barton and Kingston, as well an improved public transport network to connect into these light rail routes.
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