So Far, So Good Under Lane Cove
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday March 27, 2007
IT LOOKS as if the Lane Cove Tunnel works. Its opening followed the smooth pattern of the M7, not the chaos of the Cross City Tunnel. It has been a credit to its designers, builders and managers and, with luck, a good omen for what will happen in four weeks' time, when the tunnel faces a bigger test.
That is when motorists will start to pay the $2.55 toll for the tunnel. Will they try to avoid it? It is among Sydney's highest at more than 70 cents a kilometre, but still less than half what motorists pay for the Cross City Tunnel ($1.66 a kilometre). Traffic volumes will almost certainly fall, at least a little, as commuters feel the full burden of the tolls imposed on those who drive each day to the city from north-western suburbs. There is no question that tolls should be imposed on Sydney motorways - but it should be done fairly. As the Herald has reported, residents of the north-west are hit with daily toll totals of up to $20 if they drive to the city, where those in the south-west, who can claim rebates for tolls on the M4 and M5 under the State Government's cashback scheme, pay only $5 a day. This unfairness is the result of a particularly disgraceful piece of political pork-barrelling. Morris Iemma's Roads Minister, whoever that is to be, must urgently address the inequity that the present lopsided arrangements perpetuate, and which will soon be made worse by the Lane Cove Tunnel toll. Yesterday's experience seems to bear out the critics' claim that the new tunnel will not solve traffic problems but rather move them elsewhere. The Roads and Traffic Authority reported that the approaches to the Harbour Bridge started to fill with traffic earlier than usual. Time will tell whether that points to a future bottleneck just north of the bridge, but given past experience it would be surprising if it did not. Better public transport to the north-west would help. Buses which can now use the new tunnel - and offer a faster trip without the cost of the toll - have just become a more attractive commuting option. That should slow the rate at which car traffic builds. The north-west rail link, which is still years away, should further ease peak-hour pressure on the roads. In the meantime, though, the operators and the Government can say: so far, so good.
© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald
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