The Proposal
WasteConnex is the highest priority project for construction, consulting and finance. Thirty-three kilometres of tollways will transform tollway revenue collection and provide vital state support for Leightons Lend Lease, Evans & Peck, Transurban and Macquarie Bank. WestConnex will suck $10 billion out of public transport and freight rail projects and deliver it to big construction, consulting and finance. It’ll be finished just as the oil runs out.
To learn more about WestCONnnex, visit NoW Public Transport at westconnex.info and A People’s M4 EIS.
The Problem
“WestConnex – Greiner’s folly” demonstrates that a few strategic rail and light rail projects worth a fraction of the cost of WestConnex would significantly reduce road traffic in the east-west axis by meeting demand for public transport, particularly in the peaks.
Nick Greiner’s WestConnex proposal would cost at least $15 billion and take more than a decade to complete. In this video series, EcoTransit Sydney will show that that would be time and money tragically wasted. Future instalments will look at the project’s impacts, the politics and personalities and the alternatives.
The Alternatives
WestConnex: Greiner’s folly – Part 1: A project overtaken by events
Part 1 explains how per-capita vehicle use has fallen to the level of 20 years ago and total vehicle kilometres travelled have been virtually flatlining for nine years, while demand for public transport has surged beyond peak-period capacity. In this situation it’s possible, with projects and policies far cheaper than WestConnex, to dramatically reduce road traffic and build a more liveable, sustainable, Sydney.
WestConnex: Greiner’s folly, Part 2: South-west: the problem & the solutions
Part 2 looks at the southern (or M5) axis of WestConnex. We demonstrate that the problem lies in the fact that public transport access from Sydney’s south-west and inner west to the Southern Industrial Area and the Randwick education and health complex is so bad that 90 per cent plus of commuters are virtually forced to drive. This is in sharp contrast to the CBD where 90 per cent plus of commuters from the same areas use public transport.
WestConnex: Greiner’s folly Part 3 – East-west axis – the problem & the solutions
Part 3 looks at Sydney’s east-west axis, whose major roads are the M4 and Parramatta Road. Modifications and additions to these would form the northern arm of WestConnex.
It shows that the road ‘problem’ lies mostly between Strathfield and the City and is confined to the AM and PM peaks. Given that Sydney’s traffic has flatlined for almost a decade and demand for public transport is rising relentlessly, removing a handful of motorists from the road during these periods would solve the problem.
Read more on the alternatives
EcoTransit advances four projects that would cut tens of thousands of cars from the M5, the Princes Highway and local roads for an eighth of the cost of the southern arm of WestConnex.