1. National Local Government Asset Management Conference
13 May 2010
Tim Pallas Minister for Roads and Ports
(You’ll be introduced by Bill McArthur, President of the MAV)
Good morning and welcome to this year’s conference.
My thanks to the Municipal Association Victoria; the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia; and the Victoria Division of Engineers Australia for this opportunity.
Thanks for the invitation to again open this important annual event.
I hope to use this morning’s opportunity to share with you the Victorian Government’s vision for the road network in this state.
Last year I concentrated on the Government’s freight strategy, Freight Futures, and its likely impact on the road assets that many of you here today are responsible for managing and maintaining.
This year I’d like to update you on the development of some of that thinking and share with you one of the key tools the Government is set to introduce to shape road use by the road transport industry.

2. Metropolitan road projects 1999-2010
I want to begin this morning with something of a re-cap of road building in last 10 years.
Victorian motorists are benefiting from new roads this Government has helped build in recent years such as the Hallam Bypass, the Craigieburn Bypass, the Pakenham Bypass, EastLink and, most recently, the Deer Park Bypass.
This Government has invested more than $7.7 billion into our road network since 1999.
This includes more than $4.7 billion into metropolitan roads and more than $3 billion into regional roads.
In the metropolitan area, we have completed 61 projects totalling more than $2 billion, which you can see marked on the slide, and we’re building or preparing to build a further 18 projects worth more than $3.7 billion.
Metropolitan road projects

3. Recently completed metropolitan road projects
Springvale Rd Grade Separation
Ferntree Gully Road Widening
Thompson Road duplication
Last year saw the completion of several major roads projects in the metropolitan area critical to our economic productivity.
(click) The Western Port Highway has been duplicated between Cranbourne South and Langwarrin.
(click) We‘ve spent $26 million in upgrading one of Melbourne’s key arterials with the widening of Ferntree Gully Road between Jells Road and Stud Road in Wheelers Hill.
(click) Thompson Road has been duplicated between from the South Gippsland Highway to Narre-Warren Cranbourne Road.
(click) And just two months ago, we rid Melbourne of one of its worst black spots with the completion of the Springvale Road Rail Separation Project.
Recently completed metropolitan road projects
Western Port Highway duplication

4. The Springvale Road Rail Separation was a hugely successful project both from a construction viewpoint and from a road efficiency and safety perspective.
But at $140 million, road-rail separations don’t come cheap, and while we’d like to think that we could begin a program of ridding the metropolitan are of its countless at-grade crossings, such a program would unfortunately relegate most other road upgrades to the bottom of the list in terms of priority.

5. Metropolitan road projects underway
Vineyard Road duplication
Western Ring Road widening
M1 upgrade
Kororoit Creek Rd duplication
George St Extension
The multi-billion dollar upgrade to the road network will continue in 2010 with the duplication of the Cranbourne Frankston Road in Cranbourne; the construction of the George Street extension in Dandenong; the duplication and grade separation of Kororoit Creek Road; the M1 upgrade; the Pound Road upgrade; the duplication of further sections of Thompson Road; the duplication of Vineyard Road in Sunbury; and the widening of the M80.
Pound Rd upgrade
Thompson Rd duplication
Metropolitan road projects underway
Cranbourne-Frankston Rd duplication

6. Metropolitan road projects funded and yet to commence construction
Plenty Rd duplication
Kings Rd interchange
Kings Rd duplication
Dingley Arterial
There are four major projects funded and planned and the commencement of works on these projects is imminent.
They are:
The Dingley Arterial.
The duplication of Kings Road from the Calder Freeway to the Melton Highway, as well as the construction of the Kings Road-Calder Highway interchange.
And the duplication of Plenty Road from Gordons Road to Hawkestowe Parade in South Morang.
Metropolitan road projects funded and yet to commence construction

7. Metro roads black spot funding
This slide shows the local roads funded under the Black Spot program in metropolitan Melbourne for this financial year.

8. New metropolitan road projects in this budget
WestLink
Truck Action Plan
Clyde Road
Projects completed since New projects in this budget
Hallam Road
Among the new projects funded this year, work is already underway on the $759 million Peninsula Link – a project that will help create 4000 direct jobs, slash travel times and improve road safety.
The Budget’s commitment to outer metropolitan roads includes $35 million to improve Hallam Road between Pound Road and Ormond Road, which some of you may recall was the site of two fatal crashes last year.
This is a project that will add an extra lane on 2.5 kilometres of road, deliver new signals at both Ormond Road and Somerville Road, and improve access to Hampton Park Shopping Centre.
The Budget also provides $60.6 million for a number of projects being delivered in partnership with the Commonwealth Government:
These projects include $25.6 million to duplicate Clyde Road in Berwick, adding an extra lane in each direction between High Street and Kangan Drive.
And $21 million for planning and early works on the Truck Action Plan and WestLink, which includes a vote of confidence in the projects from the Commonwealth in the form of a $6.2 million contribution.
New metropolitan road projects in this budget
Peninsula Link

9. Regional road projects 1999-2010
Calder Freeway
Geelong Ring Road Stages 1-3
In regional Victoria in the last 10 years, this government has spent $2 billion on 59 major roads projects that you can see here.
These include the duplication of the Calder Freeway between Kyneton and Ravenswood completed in April last year, the opening of Stage 3 of the Geelong Ring Road last June and upgrades to sections of the South Gippsland Highway and Bass Highway.
Bass Hwy
South Gippsland Hwy

10. Regional road projects underway
We’re also close to completing a $5 million upgrade of the roads servicing the Green Triangle, an area facing a big increase in the freight task as a result of the fast-maturing timber harvest.
A trial of longer B-doubles has been approved on the routes you can see marked on the slide and I expect to see the first 30-metre-long combinations using these routes by mid-year.
In the medium term, underlying economic growth in the region is predicted to exceed 3 per cent per annum, most of this timber-driven. Freight volumes are forecast to triple and in total about $8.7 billion of new investments are set to occur over the next three to five years.
Perhaps more importantly, the Green Triangle Freight Action Plan is an example of an integrated transport plan where we have not made distinctions between local roads and arterial roads, but rather created an overarching plan that prioritises the economic needs of the network.

11. Regional roads black spot funding
This slide shows the Commonwealth Black Spot funding that the Victorian Government has ensured was allocated solely to local roads throughout regional Victoria.

12. Regional road projects underway
Nhill Trailer Exchange
Western Hwy upgrade Stawell – SA border
Nagambie Bypass
Western Hwy duplication Ballarat - Stawell
Anthony’s Cutting
Yarra Glen Truck Bypass
Princes Highway East duplication Traralgon-Sale
Among the major regional roads projects, work is progressing on a number of these across the state, including the replacement of the Barwon Heads Road Bridge; the Bass Highway upgrade; Stage 4A of the Geelong Ring Road; the Princes Highway duplication between Traralgon and Sale; the Nagambie Bypass; the removal of Anthony’s Cutting on the Western Highway; the first stages of the duplication of the Western Highway from Ballarat to Stawell; the upgrade of the Western Highway from Stawell to the South Australian border; the Yarra Glen Truck Bypass; and the Nhill Trailer Exchange.
Geelong Ring Rd 4A
Bass Hwy
Barwon Heads Rd Bridge Replacement

13. Regional road projects funded and yet to commence construction
Geelong Ring Road 4B
Among the regional roads projects, five are at the advanced planning stage.
They include the final stage of the Bass Highway; the upgrade of Breakwater Road; Geelong Ring Road Stage 4B; the duplication of the Princes Highway between Waurn Ponds and Winchelsea; and the upgrade of the South Gippsland Highway around Cox’s Bridge.
Princes Hwy duplication Waurn Ponds - Winchelsea
South Gippsland Highway Cox’s Bridge
Breakwater Road
Bass Hwy

14. New regional road projects in this budget
Projects completed since New projects in this budget
Kilmore Link Road
One of the biggest roads projects initiatives announced in this year’s Budget is the completion of the Geelong Ring Road.
The $76.9 million Stage 4C links the Geelong Ring Road with the Surf Coast Highway, bringing a major boost to transport links for tourism and getting much of the traffic bound for the Surf Coast and the Great Ocean Road out of residential areas.
We’ll also spend $35 million upgrading 22 kilometres of the Princes Highway East between Traralgon and Sale and $36.5 million on the Kilmore Link Road.
Princes Highway East
Geelong Ring Road 4C

15. Automated number plate recognition technology
Road and Ports
Delivering the Plan
Automated number plate recognition technology
$16.7 million
Cycling projects
$28 million
In a big boost to road safety, $16.7 million will be spent on the use of new Automated Number Plate Recognition technology to improve the policing of unregistered vehicles, unauthorised drivers and fine defaulters.
Unauthorised drivers were involved in 12.8 per cent of the fatalities on Victorian roads in 2008, so we’re talking about a budget initiative that contains a key safety component.
Last year, we released the $115 million Victorian Cycling Strategy and just last month I released a report card detailing the unprecedented investment on cycling related projects over the last year.
After we released VTP, I made a commitment to Bicycle Victoria that from the commencement of the VTP bicycle infrastructure program in until the end of the financial year, the Government would dedicate an average of $18 million a year towards cycling infrastructure.
I’m please to report that in the coming financial year, projects delivered as part of the VicRoads bicycle facilities program, major road projects and as part of the road safety program total more than $28 million.

16. Road and Ports Delivering the Plan Extra road maintenance
$22.6 million
Dandenong grade separation
$1 million
Other key budget initiatives include $22.6 million for additional maintenance on roads across the State;
And $1 million for a planning study for grade separation on the Dandenong rail corridor.

17. Roads funding sources since 1999
(dollars)
1400m
1200m
1000m
800m
600m
400m
200m
State funding
Commonwealth funding
Forecast
Forecast
This graph shows how this government has funded road improvement and maintenance over the last decade.
Over this period State Government funding from state budgetary appropriations has more than doubled to about $1.2 billion or 65 per cent of the total revenue in
The small dip you can see in this year’s budget reflects the fact that we are close to completing the upgrade of the M1, the biggest state-funded road project in this state’s history.
That trend line will move upward over the next few years as we boost spending on projects like the Western Ring Road and the Western Highway upgrades.
Source: VicRoads

18. percentage of state operating expenses
Road expenses as a proportion of state operating expenses
percentage of state operating expenses
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
Using the most recent figures available, Victoria spent 3.8 per cent of the state’s operating expenditure on roads, a figure that – as you can see from the graph - compares favourably with other states and is clearly better than the national average of 3.4 per cent.
Over the same time, funding for improving and upgrading our arterial roads has increased nearly five fold, from $186 million when we came to office to $911 million in the current financial year.
Much of this spending reflects the fact that Victoria’s manufacturing and export industries are more reliant on road transport than – say, the commodities exported from other states, which can be easily railed from a mine directly to a port.
NSW Vic Qld WA SA Tas ACT NT National average
Source: CGC Report on GST Revenue-Sharing Relativities

19. Recently completed traffic management projects
Pedestrian priority
Bus priority
Tram priority
Car priority
But it’s not just about building new roads.
Network Operating Plans have been introduced to all municipalities across Melbourne.
These use a set of guiding principles to establish the priority use of roads by transport mode, by time, and by place of activity.
Network operating plans are based on the notion that cars, trucks, public transport and pedestrians move more efficiently if they are given dedicated routes, rather than thinking we can give every mode the same priority on the same route.
I anticipate Network Operating Plans and extra technology to result in a big expansion in the capacity of our road network without the need to build new roads.

20. You may already be aware of the way we are using Network Operating Plans to encourage cycling and public transport on roads like Brunswick Street in Fitzroy, which you can pictured on this slide.
A reduction in the speed limit to 40kmh is the tell-tale sign that we’re giving priority to non-vehicular traffic – in this instance, the priority is being given to trams, to cyclists and to pedestrians.

21. (number in TEU equivalent)
Growth in container movements
(number in TEU equivalent) 8m 7m 6m 5m 4m 3m 2m 1m
I want to move now to sharing with you more of the government’s thinking on freight.
It’s a topic I spent some time on at this event last year, and since then even the Prime Minister has jumped on board and shared some of his own views on the gravity of the challenge.
This slide shows one of the reasons why freight is going to present such a real challenge in metropolitan Melbourne.
By 2035, we anticipate the Port of Melbourne will be handling close to 8 million containers annually, up from just over 2 million last year.
Melbourne is Australia’s biggest container port with some 36 per cent share of the nation’s container trade, and that’s a status I’m certainly keen to maintain.

22. 20-foot/40-foot container split
(number)
2.0m
1.8m
1.6m
1.4m
1.2m
1.0m
0.8m
0.6m
0.4m
0.2m
20-foot containers
40-foot containers
Furthermore, international trade is moving rapidly from 20ft containers to 40ft containers. The 40ft containers are typically used for the import of light consumer goods.
Currently, the port handles 65 per cent 20-foot containers and 35 per cent 40-foot containers. Ten years ago, the split was 20 per cent 40-foot containers and 80 per cent 20-foot containers.

23. (number in TEU equivalent)
Growth in container movements by origin/destination
(number in TEU equivalent) 6m 5m 4m 3m 2m 1m
Rural
Interstate
Metropolitan
When we look at the origins and destination of the forecast future growth in containers, we find that there will only be marginal growth in the numbers of containers with an interstate or rural origin or destination.
But because most of the state’s population growth is forecast to occur in Melbourne, the number of container movements between the Port and metropolitan Melbourne is expected to quadruple.
This also explains why growth is occurring in 40-foot containers – because much of the growth is in import consumer goods.
Source: Melbourne Strategy
0.07

24. Forecast container transport mode share hypothetical
(million containers) 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Even assuming 30 per cent of all container movements are by rail, over 5 million containers will still need to be moved by road
Total container volumes
Volume on rail
Volume on road
Many ask, why not put more of these containers on rail?
Well, we are moving toward doing that, but even if we were to achieve, for example, a rail mode share for container transport for the Port of Melbourne of 30 per cent by 2035, that would still mean shifting more than five million containers each year on road transport.
So doing nothing to improve road access to the port is just not an option.
We have to accept that trucks are integral to the operation of an efficient port, but we also have to create incentives for larger combinations to use the Port to ensure that the increase in the number of containers is not accompanied by a similar increase in the number of vehicles.

25. Annual port truck movements
Two scenarios for container cartage
Annual port truck movements
7 million
6 million
5 million
4 million
3 million
2 million
1 million
1.24 TEU per truck
2.0 TEU per truck
Currently, truck utilisation for port containers is 1.24 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent) per truck, which sees about 1.6 million truck movements annually to and from the Port.
If we failed to improve on that, we would be looking at 6.45 million truck movements by 2035.
The Port’s aim is to improve truck utilisation to 2.0 TEU per truck by 2035.
If this were achieved, annual truck movements would be at a more manageable 4 million annually.

26. Findlay Logistics global shipping and transport
Animation: Car drives alongside B-double. B-double expands to 30 metres. 20-foot container removed. 40-metre container added.
Findlay Logistics global shipping and transport
30 metres
26 metres
To do that, we want to encourage larger combinations. The current B-double combination you see on Victoria’s roads can only carry one 40-foot container and one 20-foot container.
To cater for the growth in 40-foot containers and to ensure that the we can cope with the increase in container numbers, I’ve approved a trial in Melbourne of more efficient road transport combinations called Longer B-doubles.
At just four metres extra in length over a standard B-double, the Longer B-double is capable of carrying two 40-foot containers.
The extra length we’re adding to a B-double is less then the length of a Commodore Wagon, which measures 4.9 metres.
(click)
Importantly, a Longer B-double is capable of carrying two 40-foot containers and as I said it’s in 40-foot containers where much of the growth in volumes is taking place.
If we were to use traditional configurations like rigid trucks and semi trailers to handle the increasing freight volumes, we’d end up with a four-fold increase in truck numbers in state.

27. Encourage
To fund some of our new infrastructure and to encourage larger combinations to use the port, a charge known as a Freight Infrastructure Charge will be imposed on all vehicles picking up and delivering international containers from the Port of Melbourne.
The charge will be shaped in such a way that it favours larger combinations over smaller ones.
30-metre B-doubles will pay the same charge as a single rigid vehicle.
Rail will not pay the charge, and the charge will be structured so that it favours off-peak operations.
The aim of the charge is twofold – to encourage larger freight combinations, as you can see on the slide, but also to help fund the $18-billion-odd worth of road projects in the Victorian Transport Plan that will directly benefit the road freight industry.
Discourage

28. Arterial roads in metro Melbourne approved for 30-metre HPFV
Cooper St
Hume Fwy
68.5 tonnes
77.5 tonnes
Millers Rd
Geelong Rd
Whitehall St
Somerville Rd
Dynon Rd
Sunshine Rd
Docklands Hwy
This slide shows the routes on which we will trial Longer B-doubles, or Higher Productivity Freight Vehicles.
In metropolitan Melbourne, 30-metre B-doubles will be allowed on parts of Whitehall Street, Dynon Road, Docklands Highway and Wurundjeri Way, while access to Webb Dock will be available via Williamstown Road and the West Gate Freeway.
(click)
Access to Tottenham and West Footscray will be via Millers Road, Geelong Road, Somerville Road and Sunshine Road.
Nominated routes in Altona and Laverton will be Grieve Parade, Boundary Road and Fitzgerald Road.
And finally, access to the north will be via the Western Ring Road, Metropolitan Ring Road and the Hume Freeway, terminating in Somerton on Cooper Street.
Wurundjeri Way
Grieve Pde
Boundary Rd
Fitzgerald Rd
West Gate Fwy
Williamstown Rd

29. Residential
We will also use revenue from the Freight Infrastructure Charge, for example, to fund the Truck Action Plan.
To get to the Port from the industrial areas of the west including the numerous empty container parks in the area, Somerville Road and Francis Street are the most direct and efficient routes for road transport.
As many of you familiar with the inner west will know, this generates a lot of heavy truck traffic in residential areas.

30. of traffic from Francis Street
Removing up to 70 per cent
of traffic from Francis Street
and Somerville Road
New on/off ramps
Residential
The Truck Action Plan is designed to reduce the number of trucks using residential routes through the inner west.
Stage 1 of the Truck Action Plan will incorporate new on/off ramps connecting the West Gate Freeway to Hyde Street.
(click)
This alone is expected to remove up to 70 per cent of truck traffic from Francis Street and Somerville Road – that’s 5000 trucks per day or 1.2 million per year.
Truck Action Plan Stage 1

31. Truck Action Plan Stage 2
Tunnel under Footscray
Sunshine Road, Dempster Street and Paramount Road upgrade
Expanded restrictions on heavy vehicles
Residential
Stage 2 of the Truck Action Plan will follow the construction of the proposed tunnel under the Maribyrnong River and Footscray, a key component of WestLink.
(click)
The construction of the tunnel will be accompanied by upgrades of Sunshine Road, Dempster Street and Paramount Road, enabling trucks to divert around Seddon and West Footscray using the upgraded routes and the new tunnel.
We will also impose progressive increases in restrictions on heavy vehicle movements in residential areas of Francis Street and Somerville Road as new infrastructure is commissioned.
Truck Action Plan Stage 2

32. Questions Tim Pallas Minister for Roads and Ports
Thank you for your time this morning.
I’m more than happy to take questions.