Bypass blow-out

By Lia Bichel
VICROADS has responded to a report tabled in Parliament last week indicating that traffic on local bypasses had reached dangerous levels, significantly exceeding initial predictions.
The Auditor-General’s report titled Management of Major Road Projects stated that the volume of traffic on the Pakenham and Hallam bypasses has dangerously overshot earlier forecasts.
“Over most of Pakenham Bypass’s length, daily traffic in 2010 exceeded the 2011 forecasts by more than 50 per cent and was close to the volumes expected in 2031,” the report stated.
“The Hallam Bypass’s daily traffic in 2010 overshot the 2011 forecasts from 15 to 29 per cent for different sections.”
The report also stated that the consequences were serious.
“The decision to fund these schemes was based on an assumption that they would give sufficient capacity for the next 20 to 25 years. By 2010, this capacity has been used up.”
But VicRoads major projects director George Mavroyeni said that while areas in Casey and Cardinia had undergone fast growth in recent years, the Hallam Bypass – which opened in 2003 as a four-lane freeway – was designed with the capacity for future widening to six lanes.
He said VicRoads “have made a genuine attempt to identify areas for potential improvement while also acknowledging current performance”.
“A number of initiatives will be adopted. VicRoads will look to identify best practice for traffic modelling including the Auditor-General’s suggestion of approaches used in other countries such as the UK and New Zealand,” Mr Mavroyeni said.
Mr Mayroyeni said that a VicRoads review of projects had indicated a need to improve their approach to traffic modelling, but the review also underestimated the benefits of their work.
He said VicRoads would work on developing a Project Outcomes Measurement Plan to apply to all future projects.