Western Freeway fails again
Friday, 20 February 2009 10:59
The inadequate standard of the Western Freeway was revealed again on Saturday 7th February as for the second time in the last two weeks a minor accident turned the Freeway into a parking lot disrupting the weekend plans of thousands of residents who were inbound along the Western Freeway.
Recent engineering studies done by the State Government of the Western Freeway reveal that it does not meet the standard for a modern major arterial on almost any criteria measured.
A minor accident becomes a major traffic disruption because the freeway has no emergency stopping lane, no place to move cars off the road and access by police, ambulance, fire trucks, tow trucks is severely limited.
The State Government’s South East Queensland Regional Plan has directed that the western growth corridor from Springfield to Ipswich should have the largest growth in Queensland with another 250,000 residents to live there as a result of the State Government’s plan.
However the State Government’s 20 year South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan contains no proposal for a major upgrade of the Western Freeway, the major arterial linking their chosen growth corridor with Brisbane.
There are many examples in South East Queensland where massive growth has been permitted or in this case mandated and yet planning authorities have failed completely to provide the necessary infrastructure in roads and public transport, education, health and the like.
I would have hoped that they had learnt their lesson from previous failures to plan infrastructure. There is no doubt that the Western Freeway in its current form, not only is inadequate now but will be a disaster with 250,000 people moving into the Government’s designated growth corridor.