__________________________________________________________

Good morning Peta

Thank you for your e-mail regarding the $1M funding for Great Northern Highway recently announced by the State Government. This funding will involve reconstruction of the shoulders and widening of the seal from 6.2m to 8.0m on the Bindi Bindi bends, installation of audible edge lines and some additional signage and rehabilitation of the pavement at the Bindi Bindi intersection.  The works are a short term solution to provide improved safety through this section of the Highway (Bindi Bindi bends) until the full realignment is funded.

Great Northern Highway forms part of the Federal Government’s National network and as such funding to undertake upgrade works on this section of the Highway is substantially a matter for the Commonwealth to provide (under current arrangements between the Commonwealth and States, funding for improvements on the National network are funded on a Commonwealth:State share basis of 50:50 for Metropolitan works and 80:20 for works outside of the Metropolitan area).

While some 75 km of the Highway between Muchea and Wubin has recently been upgraded at a cost of $130M, there still remains 87 km of works to be completed (28 km in the Muchea to Bindi Bindi section and 59 km in the Bindi Bindi to Wubin section).  These works remain unfunded at an estimated cost of $280M. The realignment of the Bindi Bindi – Lyons section of the Highway is estimated at $40M.

As all currently allocated road funding is fully committed Main Roads recently put a proposal to the Hon Minister for Transport to provide $1M from the top of the State Government’s 2012/13 Safer Roads Program to enable the short term works to be undertaken.  The Minister approved this proposal and arrangements have been made to bring the funds forward to enable the works to commence.  A copy of the Minister’s media release on this matter is attached below for your information.

(copy of minister’s release included)

Regards

Jeanne Lawler
Customer Services Manager

 

Telephone:  (08) 9622 4727   Fax:  (08) 9622 3767
e-mail:  jeanne.lawler@mainroads.wa.gov.au
www.mainroads.wa.gov.au

WA get $1million Band Aid while other States get Billions for Roads

The Western Australian government announced a $1million band aid for improvements to the Great Northern Highway last week whilst the Federal Government were handing our billions towards roads to every state except WA.

As reported in the Australian on Thursday Dec 1, Mr Anthony Albanese has been busy making offers of funding to other states and has allocated $1.4 billion dollars to road projects in others states while Western Australia received none.

He was reportedly looking for projects that had completed all their planning and were ready to let contracts so that spending could be brought into the 2011-12 budget and create the appearance of spending cuts in 2013-14.

WA has one of Australia’s most dangerous stretches of road in desperate need of upgrading, the Bindi Bindi Bends section of the Great Northern Highway.  As it is a federally funded road and the planning is ready to be let to contracts it should have been a priority for funding and for some of the $1.4 billion.

With West Australian mining helping to prop up the nation’s economy, the Federal Government should be looking to support this industry and our state to keep this economy driver going.  The Great Northern Highway is the major arterial route to WA mining in the north and millions of dollars of equipment and supplies are sent up this road.  The continually increasing number of heavy haulage vehicles using this road is making driving conditions even more treacherous and has earned it the title of ‘Horror Highway’.

As pointed out by the Australian, on Tuesday 29 Nov, Labor cited $1.4bn in accelerated infrastructure spending as one reason for the $14.5bn blowout in the 2011-12 budget deficit to $37.1bn. It promised a 2012-13 surplus of $1.5bn.

This is an example of the government placing the value of their political profile above the value of voters lives.  The Fix Great Northern Highway campaign have brought the dangerous conditions of the Bindi Bindi Bends section of the Great Northern Highway to both Mr Albanese’s and Mr Troy Buswell’s department’s attention and have been told that no funding is planned for the realignment of the road now or in the future.  This lack of funding commitment comes even after Mr Buswell publicly admits that his departments $1million wont fix the safety of the road, ‘the ultimate solution will involve an upgrade and realignment of this section of GNH.’

We are concerned for the lives and safety of all users of the Great Northern Highway.  We continually see traffic incidents and accidents on this road, the most recent being a road train roll over on the 21 Nov within the Bindi Bindi Bends and it is only a matter of time before we see another, more tragic accident.

The Fix Great Northern Highway campaign are seeking answers from Mr Buswell and Mr Albanese’s office as to why WA and this project were neglected in this round of spending.

Peta Thorniley
Spokesperson for the Fix Great Northern Highway campaign
Mob: 0449 155 723
eMail: support@fixgreatnorthernhwy.com.au
www.FixGreatNorthernHwy.com.au

References

Media Statement – Western Australian Minister for Transport, Troy Buswell – http://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/WACabinetMinistersSearch.aspx?ItemId=146669&minister=Buswell&admin=Barnett

Article in the Australian – DAVID UREN, ECONOMICS CORRESPONDENT  – http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/how-phone-calls-sealed-anthony-albaneses-14bn-road-show/story-fn9hlxnq-1226210706135

(excerpt on campaign website http://www.fixgreatnorthernhwy.com.au/2011/12/how-phone-calls-sealed-anthony-albaneses-1-4bn-road-show/)

Road Train Roll Over in Bindi Bindi Bends – http://www.fixgreatnorthernhwy.com.au/2011/11/road-train-roll-over-in-bindi-bindi-bends/

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-02/1m-boost-for-bindi-bindi-bends/3708896/?site=perth&section=news

____________________________________________________________

From: LAWLER Jeanne (CSM) [mailto:jeanne.lawler@mainroads.wa.gov.au]
Sent: Friday, 2 December 2011 10:35 AM
To: ‘XXXXXX’
Subject: Great Northern Highway

Good morning XXXX

I refer to our previous e-mails regarding Great Northern Highway and your suggestion to erect signs.

I am pleased to advise that that the State Government has now committed to provide $1M for urgent improvements on the section of Great Northern Highway known as the Bindi Bindi bends. Arrangements are currently being made to advance the funds to enable these works to commence early in the new year.

Seal edge and shoulder reinstatement works are currently in progress on this section of the Highway, and these works should provide an immediate improvement to safety.

Funding will continued to be sought from the Federal Government to complete the full upgrading of the Bindi Bindi bends and other sections in need of upgrade between Muchea and Wubin.

Thank you for your interest in road safety.

Regards

Jeanne Lawler|
Customer Services Manager
Telephone:  (08) 9622 4727    Fax:  (08) 9622 3767
e-mail:  jeanne.lawler@mainroads.wa.gov.au|
www.mainroads.wa.gov.au
 

Article that appeared in the Australian on Thurs 1 Dec 2011

The Western Australian Government’s announcement today of $1 million for improvements to the Bindi Bindi Bends section of the Great Northern Highway (GNH) is merely a band aid for the road referred to as the Horror Highway.  (announcement)

Mr Buswell’s announcement acknowledged that  ‘this section of the highway was substandard and contained a dangerous mix of a narrow and deteriorating pavement and winding bends’ and that ‘the ultimate solution would involve an upgrade and realignment of this section of GNH’.

However the $1 million is a only a token gesture when the Department of Main Roads has indicated that at least $40 million would be required for the realignment project necessary to make this road safe for motorists and the heavy haulage vehicles who use this road to service the mining industry in WA’s north.

Mr Buswell’s announcement also stated that the ultimate funding decision was largely the responsibility of the Federal Government, however in correspondence received by the Fix Great Northern Highway campaign yesterday, the Federal Government stated that the Western Australian Government agreed to the allocation of funds as part of the Nation Building Program for 2008–09  – 2013-14 which did not include this dangerous section of road. (correspondence)

Both state and federal government departments state that no immediate funding for the realignment of this section of the GNH is currently being considered and refer to the Nation Building Program 2 commencing in 2014-15 as part of the Australian Government’s Regional Infrastructure Fund which relies on a large percentage of the fund to be generated from the Minerals Resource Rent Tax although no commitments are made.

The Fix the Great Northern Highway campaign group’s concern is that waiting 3 or more years for funding is far too long.  Only recently, on the 21 Nov, a road train rolled over in this section of the Great Northern Highway and it was a miracle that no one was hurt.  It is only a matter of time before the next accident on this Horror Highway and we see a more tragic accident.

Although this demonstrates that the Western Australian Government has some understanding that this section of road is dangerous and in need of improvements, the works that can be achieved with $1 million would just be a band aid solution.  The shoulder repairs would do nothing to address the narrowness of the sealed road, the sharpness of the bends or the near blind corners that drivers need to deal with while sharing the road with oversized heavy haulage vehicles.

The announcement also makes reference to some shoulder repairs being made at the moment.

“In some respects the current shoulder works being undertaken have created new issues and made driving conditions more dangerous.  I drove through myself last night and passed 3 road trains coming through the bends.  As some of their wheels came off the road onto the newly gravel filled shoulders I was left going through a sharp bend with almost no visibility as they left a thick dust cloud behind them.  I felt more frightened going through this dust cloud with no visibility than I have done ever before.”  Peta Thorniley

We received a letter only yesterday from the Department of Infrastructure and Transport that suggests that the Western Australian Government agreed what improvements to national infrastructure were needed as part of the Nation Building Program and they did not consider the Bindi Bindi Bends section important or dangerous enough to include in this program. So although the $1 million is welcomed it by no means addresses the level of improvements that are required for the road to be made safe or that the Western Australian government appreciate how dangerous this stretch of road is.

Letter from Albanese's Office Nov 11

A response to our letter sent to the Department of Infrastructure and Transport office regarding the improvements needed to the Bindi Bindi Bends section of the Great Northern Highway was received on the 30 November 2011.

Be your own judge but it appears to pass the blame to the Western Australian Government who agreed where the Nation Building Program was to be spent – which didn’t include this section of the Great Northern Highway.

The Western Australia Department of Transport have been contacted on a number of occasions and have yet to provide an official response.

The male driver was heading south on the Great Northern Highway and apparently had a coughing fit.  His wheel came off the narrow sealed section of the road, he lost control and hit a tree.  Thankfully he was unhurt but it could have been much worse.

Another example of a near miss that can be attributed to the appalling state of the Great Northern Highway.  This was a few miles north of the town of Miling.

The article ran in the newspaper and is also online (link below)

THE Muchea to Wubin section of the Great Northern Highway is a notorious stretch of road known by truckies as the ‘horror highway’.

It is a heavily used transport route that feeds the mining sector in WA’s north, with loads of materials and equipment being carried by road trains often weighing well over 100 tonnes.

http://www.centraladvocate.com.au/news/local/news/general/outrage-grows-as-government-ignores-horror-highway/2368300.aspx