In a move that has surprised no one with any common sense, the operators of the Airport Link toll tunnel BrisConnections have hit a spot of financial trouble. It has been reported in this Courier Mail article that BrisConnections have suspended trading on the ASX indefinitely, with a restructuring and insolvency firm conducting an independent review. With far less than 50% of the expected traffic (which came from quite ludicrous predictions), there have recently been predictions of the impending financial collapse of BrisConnections. The $4.8b Airport Link may well find itself joining Clem 7 in the list of of failed Brisbane toll tunnels, with Clem7's operators RiverCity Motorway Group collapsing into $1.4b debt in 2010. BrizCommuter predicts that the under construction Legacy Way toll road tunnel, due to open in 2015, could also be a financial failure. Concerningly for BrizCommuter as a Brisbane rate payer, Legacy Way will be owned and operated by Brisbane City Council.
It is time that both Queensland and Australian Federal politicians see the light at the end of the toll road tunnel - building more roads does not solve road congestion. The key to solving congestion (and associated road pollution and trauma) is by attracting motorists to a frequent and well priced public transport system as had been the case across Europe. A move to active transport - cycling and walking also helps. Unfortunately, Brisbane has anything but a frequent and well priced public transport system, having the world's 3rd most expensive fares. Despite $100s of millions being spent on rail infrastructure such as the Ferny Grove Line duplication, Gold Coast Line, Richlands/Springfield Line, and Caboolture to Beerburrum duplication, they are still served by an infrequent train service at most times of the day. Planned cycle lanes on the Centenary Highway will even be replaced with more car lanes. T2 lanes on the Pacific Highway will be removed for more car lanes, which will only increase the speed at which traffic jams will build up further along the M1. Failure to connect Legacy Way to the Inner Northern Busway was also leave a "legacy" of sustainable transport planning failure. Despite having more economic gain than cost, the vital Cross River Rail is still languishing in an attempt to get both state and federal funding.
It's time for a change from years of failed road-centric transport planning in Queensland!
I hope you mean Legacy Way to ICB, not to the busway haha.
ReplyDeleteOn the serious side, it is a ridiculous and short sighted decision not to provide a clear and easy drive from Toowong to the Airport via the toll roads, with all the get on and offs along the way.
Surely it makes sense if you are trying to make your toll roads attractive as possible that you have them connected, if you can.
I have measured the on-time performance of trains on my daily commute over the last 2 years and averaged 20%. Clearly then, i would be happy to cycle the ~6km journey into the city, but distinct lack of cycle paths from inner north toward the city make this impossible. Anyone know where I can get cheap parking in the city???
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