Cassy O'Connor MP | Greens Leader
Southern Tasmania residents cannot take seriously the Liberals’ promise to ease worsening traffic congestion in and around Hobart.
They’ve had seven long years and congestion is just getting worse.
Instead of investing in public transport, park and ride facilities, light rail and cycling and pedestrian infrastructure to make Hobart a more liveable city, the Liberals just keep building more roads and widening existing roads.
This will only make congestion worse. It will also increase toxic emissions and impact on public health.
More and bigger roads, and an extra lane on the Southern Outlet won’t fix the problem. That’s outdated, twentieth century thinking.
Extra park and ride facilities in Kingston, more bus services, bus clearways on the existing Southern Outlet infrastructure and clearways at peak times on Macquarie and Davey Streets will be much more effective than building another lane on the Outlet.
The commuter bottleneck into and out of Hobart is created by mismanagement of Macquarie and Davey Streets, a fact the Liberals have absolutely failed to address. A fifth lane on the Outlet will just increase the size of the bottle without dealing with the neck.
The evidence tells us that more lanes just equals more cars.
Commuters who endure this failure to invest in 21st century traffic solutions are growing tired of the Liberals’ hollow promises on traffic congestion.
The Greens remain committed to funding the long term traffic and liveability solutions southern Tasmania desperately needs.