Before he knew it, comments attributed to him supporting a $20 M4 toll had found their way into the mainstream press courtesy of The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH).
''A free, fast road into the city would be lovely but so would a gold-plated toilet seat,'' Cr Grove, who last year became the first Liberal mayor of Holroyd, told the SMH.
The day the story went to print, Cr Grove, who at age 25 is Sydney’s youngest mayor, tweeted that his idea “wasn’t a $20 toll but variable peak premiums, as adopted in the US.”
WSBA contacted Cr Grove to get the low-down on his comments and found that what he was trying to do – quite sensibly – was highlight the funding discrepancy for crucial infrastructure projects and to get people thinking about clever ways to ease congestion on our major arterial roadways.
Cr Grove knows that an unfunded promise has very little chance of becoming a reality and that is the status of the WestConnex M4 extension, which promises to link the western suburbs to Port Botany.
“I’ve never advocated for $20 tolling on the M4, but I do think we need to have a very serious chat about how we’re going to fund M4 East extension,”Cr Grove told WSBA.
“This is where the real debate is. All this talk about WestConnex is talk about a project that is largely unfunded.”
He said that taking into account the $1.8 billion pledge from the state, and a further billion dollars in funding if Tony Abbott is elected in September, “we’re still left with a ten billion dollar shortfall.”
“That’s not the sort of money any government can get their hands on, particularly with the current levels of economic activity slowing the flow of funds into consolidated revenue,” Cr Grove explained.
“We can also be assured that state governments justifiably cling to their AAA credit rating and this leaves borrowing of this scale as a somewhat unlikely option.
“Compounding the challenge, we now live in a post-Lane Cove, post-Cross City marketplace where private investors are increasingly risk-averse with respect to these projects, so there’s no guarantees from the private sector either.”
He said that left only the option of tolls.
“We can look at the flat rate tolling that previously existed on the M4, we can look at the distance tolling model that exists on the M7 or we can look to the fully-variable peak tolling, such as that which occurs in Orange County California,” Cr Goive said.
“What sort of tolling is reasonable and what sort of tolling will get the job done – these are the real challenges.”
He said all the suggestions emanating from talkback radio banter that urge “public funding” or that we “just borrow it” are “about as useful to this project as cold-calling to the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny.”
“If we’re fair dinkum about seeing this project through, the only successful path to completion involves a dialogue on the money and where it is going to come from,” Cr Grove said.
WestConnex is a 33 kilometre motorway proposal which would link Sydney's west with the airport and the Port Botany precinct.
The WestConnex proposal includes an extension of the M4 Motorway, east of North Strathfield and duplication of the M5 East to King Georges Road.
It includes capacity improvements on existing roads and new sections of motorway. It aims to accommodate the growing transport needs of greater Sydney and strengthen access for industry to commercial centres, improving growth opportunities for local businesses.
It is also designed to stimulate urban renewal improvements along the Parramatta Road corridor.
