THE HIGH COST OF GETTING AROUND ALBURY
As motorists we are all guilty of concentrating on getting from point
A to point B. If there is a detour in the road we simply just find
another way. We never stop to think just how much time and money it really costs. In March 2005 the Dean Street vehicular bridge was
removed as part of the freeway project. Motorists simply found a new
way to get around .When the freeway was finished, three new sets of
traffic lights were switched on and Borella road interchange became a nightnmare. In 2005 petrol was under $1.00 per litre. Today petrol is $1.60 per litre.
Because of the high cost of living and the ever increasing cost of
petrol together with green house gas emissions, discussion of this
topic is well and truly on the agenda. Many people say that the
standard of living in Australia has progressively lowered over the
years. In the 60s most wives could stay at home and look after the
house. Today every one must work to keep the family. Costs have
increased slowly and new costs have been introduced in a
sneaky way.
The cost of running a car is higher now than ever before. Governments and road designers are going to be forced to make traffic flows more efficient and getting you from point A to B much more easy and at a lower cost. Any cost saving now is needed. Albury is a prime example of ignorance with regard to this issue. The RTA thinks Albury is just a small country town. No its not, Albury is a very big country city and its traffic is chocking it.
We calculate the cost of the closure of the Dean Street bridge in the
following way.
4km x 5000 vehicles per day x 0.5 (allow for round trip) x price per
Km allowed by tax office x days per week x 52.
2004-5 $ 446,000
2005-6 $1,996,800
2006-7 $2,059,200
2007-8 $2,152,800
To date the cost to Albury motorists in extra vehicle running
expenses is-
$6,561,600.
Have you ever considered how much time you sit and wait for the
traffic lights to turn green. Not many of us do but you will be
surprised just how much time the average motorists spends. On average we spend between ½ to ¾ of an hour per week waiting for the traffic lights to change. This equates to between 26 - 39 hours per year.There are a wide range of vehicle types ranging from cars, motor cycles, busses, trucks etc that are registered in Albury. Depending on the size of car you drive, the average cost is $65 per year in petrol to have your car running doing nothing. According to the RTA there are 30,000 vehicles that belong to Albury people using our streets each day. When you do the math's you are shocked to realize that we spend $1,950,000 per year in petrol waiting for the green light.
In 2007-8 Albury motorists have spent $4,297,800 because of poor
traffic management in the City of Albury. A.C.R.M believes this is
outrageous and needs attention immediately. Many critics will say
that these amounts are over the top. These critics are insensitive to
the plight of the family motorists. We believe efficient traffic
flows that reduce petrol consumption thus reducing green house gases is a very important issue. We welcome comment from the community as we want this issue debated within the community. The Albury City Council must act to reduce this cost to motorists. We also must convince the RTA that they must work with Albury City on this issue.
A.C.R.M will with community consultation ask Albury City to actively investigate the construction of a new vehicle link from Swift street to East Albury to relieve congestion at the Borella road interchange and make the link between East and Central
Albury more efficient.
A.C.R.M wants better traffic management systems for the CBD and arterial roads
leading out of the city. For example removal of traffic lights and
the use of roundabouts, Installation of "Turn left after stopping"
signs at traffic lights. Illuminated turn right arrows extinguished
to allow right turns and One way traffic systems.
A.C.R.M wants, at the major freeway interchanges, to allow
left hand turns at any time on to and off the freeway.
If these measures are implemented then the cost savings will be in
the order of $2,000,000 for a new vehicular link from East to Central
Albury or $800.00 per year to East Albury motorists.
The other traffic measures within the CBD will yield a cost saving of
around 25% for Albury motorists which equates to $478,500 per year
cost savings to motorists.
A.C.R.M wants community discussion and input on this issue. We warn the Council that because of the higher cost of owning, maintaining
and operating a motor vehicle, failure to address this issue will
have a dramatic effect on the economy of Central Albury as going
shopping in Wodonga is cheaper and much easier to do.
