Re: [NSW] More Complaints on CityRail Southern Highlands

["Bradley Torr" <truenorth@one.net.au.SPAMTRAP>]

Al <alpout@optusnet.com.au> wrote in article
<3b132f1c$0$25484$7f31c96c@news01.syd.optusnet.com.au>...

> Like how CityLink in Melbourne cost $2.2B for "22km" of road, a lot of
which
> was just adding extra lanes onto already existing roads (eg Monash and
Tulla
> Fwy's), but the whole Pacific Hwy upgrade from Hexham to the Queensland
border
> (~700km) comes in for about the same amount.  CityLink - $100M per km,
Pacific
> Hwy $3 142 857 per km.

The Pacific Highway generally goes through nice rural terrain where you
don't have any of those nasty things like high-density housing, railways,
underground utilities, port facilities and the like in the way which either
have to be demolished first or relocated. The Pacific Highway also doesn't
have major tunnels, or a bridge as large as the Bolte. There aren't large
sections of elevated road on the Pacific Highway either, let alone any that
are built upon a suburban railway line. And not all of the upgraded
portions of the Pacific Highway will have fully controlled access - i.e.
much of it will just be a dual carriageway with at-grade crossings and
possibly some property access.

Comparing inner-urban expressway with rural dual carriageway is like
comparing a Huinter Valley coalie pulled by quad 90's with a decrepit
single-ended shunter in some goods yard in a western plains town. (Sorry,
just had to bring it back on topic).

Regards
BT