Frankford–Birralee–Batman Freight Corridor in limbo for over a decade

Sharon Webb

BIRRALEE RESIDENTS say the State Government’s use of a nine year-old plan to upgrade Birralee Road to spruik the merits of a new prison is spin.

And they say the money allocated to upgrading the road is clearly not enough.

Birralee Road residents ridiculed an advertisement in December’s Gazette saying $55m in joint state and federal funding has been allocated to upgrade the road, to be widened to accommodate the entry to the prison site.

CROWPS spokesperson Aaron Reader accused the government of recycling money allocated to the upgrade year after year, with nothing happening on the ground.

‘In no way should the Birralee Road upgrade be used as a spin by the Justice Department as a sweetener around the proposed new prison’, he said.

‘This $55m has been allocated several times from both federal elections and state government promises for many years with no actual works commencing.

‘Given that Birralee Road is already a significant freight route now, CROWPS welcomes any money spent on Birralee Road to make it safer.’

Justice Minister Elise Archer’s attempted sleight of hand gets worse.

A spokesperson for State Growth Minister Michael Ferguson has confirmed that the $55m is actually to upgrade the freight route from Bell Bay to the Bass Highway via the Frankford Highway and Birralee Road.

The Birralee Road section is just 19km of a 53km route.

‘$55m to spend on 53km won’t go far,’ Mr Reader said.

‘Given the cost of recent road and bypass upgrades at Perth and the Midlands highway, anyone would realise $55m is a little light on for such a long stretch of road in poor condition.’

The spokesperson for a second group of Birralee residents concerned about the road, Torey Taylor, said she had contacted Mr Ferguson asking specifically about whether extra money would be allocated for Birralee Road but he hadn’t replied.

‘Does the government have more money to make the entrance to the proposed prison site safe, or are they going to dip into what’s already been allocated for the Birralee–Frankford–Batman Bridge corridor?’ she asked.

‘What will be left for the rest of Birralee Road that also needs so much attention?’

Ms Taylor pointed to the Tasmanian Government’s 2012 submission to the Federal Government’s Nation Building 2 program, which said that the Batman Highway, Frankford Main Road and Birralee Main Road do not meet the Tasmanian road geometry guidelines for higher productivity vehicles (HPVs).

‘Further analysis of the Frankford–Birralee–Batman Freight Corridor found the Batman Highway and Frankford Road were fit for current purpose but Birralee Road will require significant asset rehabilitation in the short-term,’ the 2012 report said.

‘The Tasmanian Government has identified upgrading the Birralee Road as the key priority for the Frankford–Birralee–Batman Freight Corridor.

‘Projections indicate that freight volumes on Birralee Road will increase significantly, reaching nearly 2.5 million tonnes by 2030. Much of this task is likely to be driven by changes in forestry freight movements along with significant growth in agricultural commodities.’

The report described Birralee Road as having ‘a poor asset condition.’

‘The road has evolved from a gravel surface to a sealed surface but has had relatively little works on the road formation over its life.

‘With the increased heavy traffic, there has been significant deterioration in asset condition and Birralee Road will require significant rehabilitation works in the near future. Given that asset rehabilitation is a relatively major investment, it is sensible that the road is upgraded to an appropriate standard at the same time.’

Despite this clear need nine years ago and a new prison to be built on Birralee Road, the State Growth spokesperson said the road upgrade was still in the planning stage.

According to the spokesman, upgrading on the Frankford and Birralee roads is not expected to be complete until 2024, twelve years after the State Government said the work needed to be done to support Tasmanian productivity.

Far from upgrading Birralee Road to make it safe during the prison construction, he confirmed work is scheduled to start this month on the other end of the freight corridor with construction of a sealed shoulder on Batman Highway between the East Tamar Highway and Batman Bridge.

The best Birralee residents can expect in 2021 is a public display and an opportunity to provide feedback on the project.