Published Wednesday, 30 July, 2008 at 05:22 PM
Minister for Main Roads and Local Government
The Honourable Warren Pitt
Tolling a valid method of road funding
Tolling is a valid method of funding road projects such as Brisbane City Council’s Hale St Link bridge, Main Roads Minister Warren Pitt said today.
Mr Pitt said the State Government would need a very good reason to refuse to grant the council tolling powers for the bridge, which is currently under construction.
“I’m not going to refuse to give the council tolling powers just because some people believe the project should not be built or should be toll-free,” he said.
“We recognise that tolling is a commonly used means of funding infrastructure and it is up to the council to explain to motorists and ratepayers its decision to seek tolling approval for this particular project.
“We must remember that this bridge is a council project, on council-controlled roads and funded by council.
“A key priority is to ensure that the project has minimal impact on the state-controlled road network and this issue appears to have been addressed by the inclusion of an outbound viaduct over the Coronation Drive-Hale Street intersection in council’s revised design.
“The council wrote to me this week outlining the revised design and once I’ve had a chance to review this information and other technical data about the project, I should be in a position to make a decision on tolling powers.
“In making that decision, I need to assess the broad issues associated with any toll including factors such as overall transport planning, methodology of tolling, and availability of alternative routes.
“I also plan on asking the council to develop and implement additional traffic and public transport mitigation strategies, both during and after construction, to minimise all projected impacts as much as is possible.”
Mr Pitt said the RACQ, which had urged him to refuse tolling powers for the Hale St Link, should consider the consequences of its request.
“If this $370 million project is not funded by tolls, council will have to find the money from other sources,” he said.
“This means scrapping other important projects to the same value or lifting rates to cover the multi-million-dollar shortfall. I don’t think either of these alternatives would be acceptable to ratepayers.”
Mr Pitt said he realised that construction of any major road project would cause some level of disruption to traffic.
“To this end, Main Roads will continue to work with council to help it develop and implement the best possible measures during construction to mitigate its projected impacts,” he said.
Media contact: Minister Pitt’s Office 3227 8819
Mr Pitt said the State Government would need a very good reason to refuse to grant the council tolling powers for the bridge, which is currently under construction.
“I’m not going to refuse to give the council tolling powers just because some people believe the project should not be built or should be toll-free,” he said.
“We recognise that tolling is a commonly used means of funding infrastructure and it is up to the council to explain to motorists and ratepayers its decision to seek tolling approval for this particular project.
“We must remember that this bridge is a council project, on council-controlled roads and funded by council.
“A key priority is to ensure that the project has minimal impact on the state-controlled road network and this issue appears to have been addressed by the inclusion of an outbound viaduct over the Coronation Drive-Hale Street intersection in council’s revised design.
“The council wrote to me this week outlining the revised design and once I’ve had a chance to review this information and other technical data about the project, I should be in a position to make a decision on tolling powers.
“In making that decision, I need to assess the broad issues associated with any toll including factors such as overall transport planning, methodology of tolling, and availability of alternative routes.
“I also plan on asking the council to develop and implement additional traffic and public transport mitigation strategies, both during and after construction, to minimise all projected impacts as much as is possible.”
Mr Pitt said the RACQ, which had urged him to refuse tolling powers for the Hale St Link, should consider the consequences of its request.
“If this $370 million project is not funded by tolls, council will have to find the money from other sources,” he said.
“This means scrapping other important projects to the same value or lifting rates to cover the multi-million-dollar shortfall. I don’t think either of these alternatives would be acceptable to ratepayers.”
Mr Pitt said he realised that construction of any major road project would cause some level of disruption to traffic.
“To this end, Main Roads will continue to work with council to help it develop and implement the best possible measures during construction to mitigate its projected impacts,” he said.
Media contact: Minister Pitt’s Office 3227 8819