One of Western Australia’s top public servants has raised the possibility that private funding, including direct charging of motorists, will be needed to help pay for the State’s road network.
One of Western Australia’s top public servants has raised the possibility that private funding, including direct charging of motorists, will be needed to help pay for the State’s road network.
In an unusually frank assessment, Main Roads commissioner Menno Henneveld has spelt out the harsh financial reality facing future governments.
“Currently our identified needs exceed the available funding,” Mr Henneveld told the Infrastructure WA 2004 conference.
He said there was a large gap over the next decade between anticipated funding and required works.
“It is not expected that governments, either State or Commonwealth, will be able to increase road funding in the foreseeable future to reduce this significant shortfall,” Mr Henneveld said.
“With crucial maintenance consuming an ever larger proportion of existing funds, new ways of financing capital works in particular need to be identified.”
Private funding options canvassed by Mr Henneveld include direct contributions by industry and land developers and charging of road users through “shadow tolling”.
The level of road funding is a sensitive topic for the Gallop Government, which has been repeatedly criticised for spending too little on roads and too much on the metropolitan rail network.
Premier Geoff Gallop highlighted the State Government’s support for roads this week when he announced funding for the $340 million Peel Deviation and 70-kilometre Kwinana Freeway extension, which will divert traffic away from Mandurah.
With construction due to start in 2007, Dr Gallop claimed the project would cut travel times between Perth and Mandurah by 30 minutes.
The Peel Deviation has in the past been put forward as a candidate for WA’s first toll road but Mr Henneveld suggested this option was not viable.
He noted that toll roads are against the stated policy of both the Government and the Opposition.
More fundamentally, he doubts toll roads would work in WA.
“In Sydney and Melbourne, privately funded infrastructure, such as toll roads, is viable due to the level of congestion that users face on alternative routes.
“This does not yet apply in Perth.”
Nevertheless, he suggested governments may still want to assess direct charging of motorists.
“WA may need to look seriously at this option in the future as it gives an equitable means of providing a ‘user pays’ infrastructure,” Mr Henneveld said.
He put forward the idea of ‘shadow tolling, which is a mechanism used to repay a private builder an amount similar to actual tolls that could have been collected.
“Shadow tolling may remain an option that would allow the State to implement options adopted in the United Kingdom and some States of America without putting the electorate off side.”
Another option put forward is congestion charging, under which payments are linked to the performance (eg travel time, crash statistics) on a section of road. Mr Henneveld said the mining industry could continue to be involved in the provision of road infrastructure, through capital or ongoing maintenance contributions.
“(This) is an avenue that has been used a number of times in recent years in order for private organisations to advance road works in remote areas to facilitate the viability of a new mining project,” he said.
Similarly, land developers could be asked to make capital contributions in populated rural and urban environments.
A second option in relation to land developers is to utilise funds from the sale of land associated with roadworks.
Mr Henneveld said the road-funding shortfall in WA flowed in part from the allocation of Federal government AusLink funds, which favour routes with high traffic volumes and were therefore biased against WA.
“This is a cause for major concern as Western Australia, with 25 per cent of the national highway, 10 per cent of Australia’s population and one third of the land mass has been allocated only 6.9 per cent of AusLink funding,” he said.
If AusLink funding was provided on a per capita basis, WA would be entitled to $190 million more.
Mr Henneveld provided several examples where current funding is not adequate.
In the Pilbara, Main Roads has identified $226 million of improvement works over the next decade.
“At present, most of these works are unfunded,” Mr Henneveld said.
In agricultural areas, the cartage of plantation timber and lime sands also requires significant road improvements.
“Roads needs in these and other areas are considerable and are currently largely unfunded,” Mr Henneveld said.
On the positive side, Main Roads has lined up nearly $1 billion of funding for its capital works program over the four years to 2007-08 (see table).
Of this total, the Federal Government is funding $265 million with the balance from the State Government.
MAJOR PROJECTS*
- Kwinana Freeway extension: $344m
- Karratha-Tom Price road: $81m
- Roe Hwy extension: $66m
- Mitchell Freeway extension: $65m
- Lancelin-Cervantes road: $44m
- Great Northern Hwy: $40m
- Great Eastern Hwy: $31m
*2004-05 to 2007-08
