Article: Melbourne's gates of hell could spell boom time for developers

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Melbourne's gates of hell could spell boom time for developers

Melbourne's gates of hell could spell boom time for developers
Bruce Guthrie
March 25, 2012

Opinion

We need help getting rid of our myriad level crossings.

ONE of my most treasured mementoes of living in New York in the late '90s is a musical snow dome I bought one rainy afternoon at Saks Fifth Avenue department store. The dome features local landmarks, including the Empire State and Chrysler buildings, the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and Saks itself. And, of course, it plays New York, New York when you wind it up.

I don't own a Melbourne snow dome and I don't know what the wind-up tune would be if I did, but I have a pretty fair idea of what would need to be inside it: the Arts Centre spire, West Gate Bridge, a tram, St Pat's or St Paul's, Eureka Tower, the MCG ... and boom gates. Lots and lots of boom gates. For Melbourne is undoubtedly the level crossing capital of Australia. Best guesses put the number of crossings in the city at 172 - that's almost 350 booms. Sydney has only about a dozen level crossings, because while we were building freeways in the '60s and '70s they were busy separating road and rail. This translates into an awful lot of wasted time on Melbourne roads, particularly if, like me, you've got two especially bothersome crossings within a kilometre of your home. Frankly, I hope there's a nasty corner of hell reserved for the people who created the Glenferrie Road, Kooyong, crossing that has eaten up hours, if not days of my life. Trains crawl through it because the station platforms are immediately east of the crossing and there are tram stops north and south, too. What a shemozzle.

The same is true for people all over Melbourne. There are internet forums with pages and pages devoted to the issue. On them you learn, for instance, that the Upfield line has 16 crossings in eight kilometres between Royal Park and Fawkner, 14 of them in the four kilometres between Bell Street and Park Street. I'd hate to be a courier in that part of the world.

In 2010, the RACV identified the city's 10 worst intersections and four were caused by level crossings. Some boom gates can be down up to 38 minutes an hour during morning and afternoon peaks. That's a lot of lost time and money, particularly when petrol is edging towards $1.60 per litre. Not to mention the attendant dangers: in recent months there have been several cases of pedestrians and motorists taking risks out of frustration at ludicrous waiting times at crossings. Lives have been lost because of it.

The Baillieu government is actually trying to do something about the mess, pledging $16 million in last year's budget ''for planning work on level crossing removal'' and promising to spend nearly $400 million over four years to get rid of the worst crossings. It has to do this because if it doesn't, another of its election promises - to provide 40 new trains on the Metro system - will just make matters worse. This is because the more trains we put on the system, the longer boom gates have to be down and the worse road congestion gets. It's like being in the political equivalent of the underground loop, going round and round.

The realisation that level crossing removal is not only a road issue but a serious public transport matter is an important breakthrough. As the demand for more trains grows, we have to fix the problem. And fast; well, faster anyway. Which is why business groups are clamouring for private enterprise to get involved. The Committee for Melbourne has a working party on the problem with the goal of eliminating all the city's level crossings within 20 years. It's a big challenge, acknowledged in the group's 2011 review, which said: ''With approximately 172 rail level crossings throughout Melbourne, each costing an estimated $100 million to remove; somehow, $17.2 billion must be found. It's a startling figure, but ... is vital to ease Melbourne's road congestion long-term.''

Outgoing committee CEO Andrew MacLeod has estimated it would take 68 years to remove all crossings at the current rate. But he believes if private enterprise gets involved the 20-year deadline is achievable. The plan is simple. Developers would fund separations using tunnels or fly-overs and in return could build apartments, shops and offices on or above the area. Instead of government having to find $100 million per crossing removal, private enterprise would pay, if not all, a large part. It would fit nicely within any asset sales program the government might adopt. The committee also proposes an agency be created to oversee the bundling of projects.

There will be community groups horrified by the prospect of developers taking charge of public land but, providing there's appropriate oversight, I can see merit in the proposals. It's time to lower the boom on level crossings.

■Bruce Guthrie is a former editor of The Sunday Age, The Age and the Herald Sun.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/melbournes-gates-of-hell-could-spell-boom-time-for-developers-20120324-1vr1l.html