NSW Greens submission on the M5 Corridor Expansion

POSITION

The NSW Greens do not support the government's plans for the M5 corridor expansion. 

The Greens have a policy of no new motorway construction. This is based on the view that traffic congestion is best reduced by the provision of convenient and efficient public transport and rail freight options.

The Greens support increased affordable, efficient and safe public transport.

Fewer cars and trucks on the road and a more extensive public transport system will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, reduce congestion and provide fairer and more equitable transport access.

The Greens propose that:

· Premier Kristina Keneally cancel the RTA’s proposal for the M5 duplication project and redirect much needed funding to public transport and rail freight infrastructure.

· The NSW government, with the support of the Federal government's Infrastructure Australia Fund, prioritise public transport, rail freight and active transport solutions instead.

OVERVIEW

In the face of climate change, rising petrol prices, limited oil supplies and worsening air pollution, the government should be working to shift funds away from road building and towards clean green and affordable transport options.

Years of prioritising motorways have left public transport services and infrastructure in Sydney in disarray.

A fundamental change in transport planning and investment is required in NSW. The government must reprioritise public transport infrastructure over roads.

THE PROPOSAL

The RTA has a $4.5 billion plan to seek Infrastructure Australia funding to:

· widen the existing M5 to the west of King Georges Road, known as the South West motorway, from 4 to 6 lanes

· widen the existing M5 to the east of King Georges Road from 4 to 8 lanes by adding surface lanes and  a second M5 East tunnel

· build a four lane surface link road from the M5 tunnel's eastern portal at Arncliffe through the $17 remediated Tempe Reserve and Tempe Lands to Campbell Road, St Peters (the Southern Sydney Connection) which will be raised and have two lanes in each direction.

Adverse impacts – the big picture

The Greens believe this project will:
· undermine the government's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
· worsen air quality
· induce traffic rather than reduce congestion
· negatively impact on the day to day lives of affected residents
· be a further set-back to the government's inability to meet climate change, transport and air quality targets
· absorb funding that could otherwise be spent on much needed public transport projects.

Local impacts

The Southern Sydney Connection will go through Tempe, destroying parklands, sportsfields, recreational space and eco-wetlands.

The SSC will carry approximately 15,000 vehicles a day which will result in 1,800 vehicles per hour, at peak hours, exiting onto the already congested residential Euston and Campbell Roads at St Peters.

This will have immediate adverse impacts on people in Alexandria. However, as the SSC will make the M4 tunnel to Port Botany inevitable, concern must also be raised for those residents who now live around Campbell St, St Peters.

There is significant opposition to the project among affected local communities, made clear by resident groups such as Tempe 2020, who fear the project will significantly reduce residents' quality of life.

Criticism of the feasibility study

The Greens are concerned at the lack of detail in the feasibility study.  For example:

· Alternatives. Of most concern is the complete absence of a detailed examination of other options to this billion dollar road expansion. Upgrading public transport and rail freight links, demand management and improvements to the existing road network are covered but not in any great detail.  This is clearly a proposal driven by the RTA with roads, not public transport, in mind.

· Traffic forecasting. Another hole is the lack of clear traffic forecasting, for example of how much traffic would grow on the M5 corridor under the options proposed. The failure to accurately predict traffic figures, is a constant theme of recent motorway projects across Sydney, from the original M5 motorway through to the Lane Cove Tunnel, with disastrous results for the travelling public and taxpayers.

· Filtration plans. While the government makes a commitment to filter the new M5 tunnel it provides no detail on what technology will be used or where the filtration stacks will be placed. None of Sydney’s existing tunnel emissions are adequately filtered, and the in-tunnel conditions are hazardous to commuters.  The cost of retrofitting tunnel filtration equipment is very expensive, and yet the government still has no clear policy to build all future motorway tunnels with in-tunnel filtration.

Poor consultation process

This initial consultation process has been faulty, conducted over the holiday period and only extended after community protests.

The consultants failed to inform the residents of East Tempe Village about the M5 Duplication project.  This is extraordinary as this community is the most likely to be affected by the SSC.

This repeats the pattern of shoddy community consultation processes conducted by the RTA in the past, for example in preparation for the Cross City and Lane Cove Tunnels.

SUMMARY

This proposal further pushes a petroleum-dependent transport system onto future generations. This continued investment in motorways comes at the expense of investment in public transport.

Time and time again urban transport planners produce evidence which show that urban motorways do not reduce congestion: they induce it. 

Motorways generate air pollution and encourage the use of private vehicles and road freight.

In an age of climate change and peak oil, this proposal cannot be supported.