This Week: Town and Country – TRANSPORT
IN THE CBD
The biggest issue of Sydney traffic snarls is to get people from Sydney’s northwest sector into the CBD every day. The CBD Metro was a $500 million lemon. The Victoria Road duplication is horrendously expensive. The Epping to Chatswood rail could be the best solution. At first fully laden trains could not climb the incline up the tunnel. Now no more than 2 trains per hour can do this as time-tabling does not allow for more trains unless we have a cross-Harbour tunnel or new bridge. Its daily patronage of 11,500 is a far cry from forecasts of 15,000 a day, so any ‘’return’’ from this project resides in using the tunnel for through passengers. In other words, that $2.3 billion of sunk costs on this line cannot earn anything like its potential without expanding capacity from the north shore into the city, via a new harbour crossing. Tunnelling under the harbour will cost $7 billion, but hanging two more tracks off the Harbour Bridge is both possible and cheaper.
ON THE CENTRAL COAST
This fast growing area will soon reach 400,000 people with a further 45,000 extra jobs planned locally. Warnervale must eventually get its new railway station, the winding Pacific Highway through Wyong shops needs straightening, and the West Gosford Gateway is required to undo traffic snarls. Whoever planned the MY ZONE tickets incorporates travel to Wollongong and the Blue Mountains, a journey not many workers take daily.
At last the Central Coast is recognised as one region. We need better regional traffic plans. Then we must get the Gosford City Council and Wyong City Council to sell their valuable offices, and amalgamate to new green site offices for one Central Coast Council at Tuggerah. This is the only site in NSW that has full bus, a freeway, a highway and a railway plus adequate shops and parking and all interchanges already in place.
Rev The Hon Dr Gordon Moyes, A.C., M.L.C.