Completing the F6 Motorway in New South Wales will deliver trucking operators an economic benefit of $77.2 million, according to
Completing the F6 Motorway in New South Wales will deliver trucking operators an economic benefit of $77.2 million, according to a report released by the Allen Consulting Group.
The economic impact study, titled Land transport infrastructure in New South Wales, looked at the cost-benefit ratio of completing the F6 Motorway from St Peters to Loftus. The report examined the difference between constructing or not constructing a tunnel between Port Hacking Road and Loftus.
It found the completion of the F6 Motorway with a tunnel would, by 2030, increase the economic output of the road transport industry by 0.47 percent, an increase of $77.2 million.
However, the absence of a tunnel would “significantly lower” this figure, according to the report. Under such a scenario, the trucking industry will lose almost $20 million in economic output to $58.4 million, or 0.36 percent.
Without the tunnel, the report says F6 traffic would connect “to the Princes Highway to the south via President Avenue, which would be upgraded to accommodate increases in traffic load”.
According to the report, the immediate benefits of a tunnelled motorway would be a reduction in operating costs, such as fuel consumption, by $559 million. Congestion levels would also decrease, thus cutting travel times and saving $475 million.
The report says expansion of the motorway will reduce road accidents, which would deliver a saving of $22 million.
Furthermore, it is expected the projected savings to the road transport industry will have flow-on effects to other sectors reliant upon trucks.
“The food and drinks industry, being heavily dependent upon trucking services to distribute goods to retailers, is also positively affected,” the report says.
The report found a tunnelled motorway would cost $2.2 billion to construct and would deliver an immediate benefit of $1.1 billion, with a long-term benefit of $3 billion.
While the absence of a tunnel would reduce the cost to $1.1 billion, the report says the long-term economic gain would only be $2.5 billion and would force transport operators on to residential roads between Gymea and St Peters.
Based on the report¹s findings, the NRMA has called for the completion of the F6 Motorway as soon as possible.
“Completing the F6 will be good for Sydney¹s road network, traffic congestion, road safety, the environment and motorists,” NRMA Deputy President Michael Tynan says.