Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 8:09 am
Cloud over $550m expresswayKim Wheatley
August 05, 2006 11:30pm
Article from: Sunday Mail (SA)Font size: + -
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FEWER lanes and a route change may be the only options for the survival of the planned $550 million Northern Expressway, an angry Federal Roads Minister Jim Lloyd said yesterday.
It comes as the Opposition yesterday raised the spectre of further blowouts arising from acquisition of land for the project.
On Friday, Transport Minister Pat Conlon announced a $250 million cost blowout for the 22km expressway, the latest embarrassing admission in a list of Transport Department project cost overruns.
The State Government has asked the Federal Government to boost its $240 million contribution to $440 million, in a project designed to link the export and freight route from Port Wakefield Rd to Gawler.
The State Government also found another $50 million for the project, placing further pressure on the upcoming State Budget.
Mr Lloyd said yesterday he had been told about the blowout only hours before it was announced.
"I got a note yesterday morning (Friday) with a draft of what the SA Government was going to say," he said. "How did they get it so wrong?
"This is an 80 per cent increase – from $300 million to $550 million – it's not even in the ballpark, so it is quite concerning and it certainly does put a cloud over the project."
While maintaining the project was "not dead", he foreshadowed major re-scoping and called for urgent high-level talks.
"Is there potential, instead of having three lanes each way, to have two lanes each way . . . and are there route selections that would provide a cost saving?" he said.
"The Australian Government is still committed to the project but we can't just pluck another couple of hundred million out of the air. I'm very annoyed."
Mr Lloyd appeared unimpressed with Mr Conlon saying a robust economy was forcing cost blowouts in projects around Australia.
"Claiming an 80 per cent increase can be blamed on a good economy and increasing costs for steel and concrete just doesn't wash," he said. "We all have to factor in cost increases – but not to that extent."
Mr Conlon said he was confident the project would go ahead, largely because construction was due to start in 2009. "All states will be getting new Auslink allocations in that time anyway," he said. "We'll be getting, I would suggest, more than an extra couple of million dollars over the next life of the project over five years."
However, he welcomed any Commonwealth assistance to reduce costs, including discussions about the State Government's preferred route, which is yet to be made public.
"If the Commonwealth believes there's another way of doing it that is cheaper, we're more than happy to look – it's certainly in my interest for the numbers to come in low," Mr Conlon said.
"But we've scoped it, we think, as efficiently and effectively as possible . . . and it is predominantly four lanes and you can't scope below four lanes. That is literally how you end up with one-way expressways." The Opposition labelled the blowout "financial mismanagement" and believes the project could result in further embarrassment.
Transport spokesman Martin Hamilton-Smith said: "They've done their costings behind closed doors on land aquisitions – they haven't consulted land owners – and what may well happen is that it will blow out further because, when they actually start speaking with the people who own the land, they might find out their sums are wrong.
"And apparently there's a wetland that's affected by the alignment and there's also an Aboriginal site."
The expressway blowout follows news the cost of one of three planned South Rd underpasses will increase by $35 million to $100 million and the Bakewell Bridge replacement will rise by $11 million.
August 05, 2006 11:30pm
Article from: Sunday Mail (SA)Font size: + -
Send this article: Print Email
FEWER lanes and a route change may be the only options for the survival of the planned $550 million Northern Expressway, an angry Federal Roads Minister Jim Lloyd said yesterday.
It comes as the Opposition yesterday raised the spectre of further blowouts arising from acquisition of land for the project.
On Friday, Transport Minister Pat Conlon announced a $250 million cost blowout for the 22km expressway, the latest embarrassing admission in a list of Transport Department project cost overruns.
The State Government has asked the Federal Government to boost its $240 million contribution to $440 million, in a project designed to link the export and freight route from Port Wakefield Rd to Gawler.
The State Government also found another $50 million for the project, placing further pressure on the upcoming State Budget.
Mr Lloyd said yesterday he had been told about the blowout only hours before it was announced.
"I got a note yesterday morning (Friday) with a draft of what the SA Government was going to say," he said. "How did they get it so wrong?
"This is an 80 per cent increase – from $300 million to $550 million – it's not even in the ballpark, so it is quite concerning and it certainly does put a cloud over the project."
While maintaining the project was "not dead", he foreshadowed major re-scoping and called for urgent high-level talks.
"Is there potential, instead of having three lanes each way, to have two lanes each way . . . and are there route selections that would provide a cost saving?" he said.
"The Australian Government is still committed to the project but we can't just pluck another couple of hundred million out of the air. I'm very annoyed."
Mr Lloyd appeared unimpressed with Mr Conlon saying a robust economy was forcing cost blowouts in projects around Australia.
"Claiming an 80 per cent increase can be blamed on a good economy and increasing costs for steel and concrete just doesn't wash," he said. "We all have to factor in cost increases – but not to that extent."
Mr Conlon said he was confident the project would go ahead, largely because construction was due to start in 2009. "All states will be getting new Auslink allocations in that time anyway," he said. "We'll be getting, I would suggest, more than an extra couple of million dollars over the next life of the project over five years."
However, he welcomed any Commonwealth assistance to reduce costs, including discussions about the State Government's preferred route, which is yet to be made public.
"If the Commonwealth believes there's another way of doing it that is cheaper, we're more than happy to look – it's certainly in my interest for the numbers to come in low," Mr Conlon said.
"But we've scoped it, we think, as efficiently and effectively as possible . . . and it is predominantly four lanes and you can't scope below four lanes. That is literally how you end up with one-way expressways." The Opposition labelled the blowout "financial mismanagement" and believes the project could result in further embarrassment.
Transport spokesman Martin Hamilton-Smith said: "They've done their costings behind closed doors on land aquisitions – they haven't consulted land owners – and what may well happen is that it will blow out further because, when they actually start speaking with the people who own the land, they might find out their sums are wrong.
"And apparently there's a wetland that's affected by the alignment and there's also an Aboriginal site."
The expressway blowout follows news the cost of one of three planned South Rd underpasses will increase by $35 million to $100 million and the Bakewell Bridge replacement will rise by $11 million.
