Toll roads are good policy

Toll roads may be unpopular with many motorist and taboo with the Bracks Government, but they play a part in any coherent transport strategy for Victoria.

The need for an integrated network of radial and orbital expressways in Melbourne has been recognised since the 1970s.  Until the early 1990s the idea did not progress due to resistance from interest groups and lack of government funding.  During its dying months, the Kirner Government, broke and desperate for economic development, did seek to its credit seek proposals from private parties to build and fund a western and southern bypass on a toll road basis.  However, no decision was made prior to the election of 1992.

The Kennett Government faced a stark choice;  either a toll road or no road.  They wisely choose toll option.  It also expanded the scope of the project and introduced a radical new electronic tolling system that lays the foundation for future road pricing.

The task now is to complete the Melbourne network.  This includes completing the eastern freeway to Ringwood and the Scoresby Freeway, thus linking the Frankston industrial belt to the City Link system, as well as addressing the remaining bottle necks in the orbital system;  the Hume Freeway from Craigieburn to the Metropolitan Ring Road, the Western Freeway from Rockbank to the Metropolitan Ring Road at Deer Park and the link between the Eastern Freeway to City Link.

In my column two weeks ago I accused the Bracks Government of lacking a commitment to completing this network.  Mr Batchelor -- the Transport Minister -- says otherwise.  However, despite being flush with funds and committing $1.5 billion to new transport infrastructure in the budget, the government has committed funding to only one part of the task;  the extension of the eastern freeway.  The other components have received no mention or funding in the budget.  The Government appears to support the construction of the other sections but only as long as the Commonwealth provides all the funds.

The fact is, the State and Commonwealth Governments could fund the completion of the entire network out of taxes or new borrowing but will not do so this decade because of higher priorities, particularly in rural areas.

Of course, tolls are not suitable for linking the western ring road to the Hume and Western Highways, as theses are relatively small add-ons to existing public funded freeways.  However, tolls are worth considering for the Scoresby Highway and a tunnel linking the Eastern Freeway to City Link.  The Scoresby Highway would be a new, large venture costing at least $1 billion and is unlikely to start this decade if it depends on government funding.  The tunnel linking Eastern Freeway to City Link would be extensions of the existing toll system.

The public quite rightly feels ripped-off by toll roads, forced to pay twice for roads:  once through fuel taxes and another via tolls.  The fact is, governments have long treated fuel taxes as just another tax and have collected far more in fuel taxes than they ever spend on roads.  This is unlikely to change.

If Victorians want Melbourne's radial and orbital road network -- which is essential to State competitiveness -- to be complete this decade then expansion of the existing toll system must considered.

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