$105million to address CBD congestion

• More CAT buses,  new Green CAT service, new cycle paths and bus lanes 
• Third lane in Graham Farmer Freeway and increased lane capacity on Mitchell Freeway

The State Government has released a comprehensive plan to address traffic congestion in and around the CBD as the city is transformed by projects such as the Perth Waterfront development and Perth City Link.

Transport Minister Troy Buswell and Treasurer Christian Porter today announced a $47.6million 2012-13 Budget package to ensure the CBD had a sustainable transport network to accommodate major city projects and a growing population.

This is in addition to $57million for a third lane in the Graham Farmer Freeway tunnel and increased lane capacity on the Mitchell Freeway.

"The Perth Waterfront Development, Perth City Link and Riverside projects are under way or are about to start, and are integral components to the transformation of Perth into a vibrant and modern city," Mr Buswell said.

"These projects will clearly impact on the flow of traffic in and around the city, and the CBD Transport Plan outlines how this impact will be managed and how we can better meet the needs of drivers, users of public transport, pedestrians and cyclists."

The Minister said $47.6million from the Perth Parking Management Account would be used to introduce active traffic management, which uses CCTV cameras to provide information to road users and to incident response crews which remove broken-down vehicles.

"Active traffic management will increase road safety and traffic capacity by minimising disruption from crashes and breakdowns on the Graham Farmer Freeway and the inner-city sections of the Mitchell and Kwinana freeways, as well as blockages from illegal clearway parking in the CBD," he said.

"It will also involve real time management of traffic signals, so where incidents occur or roadworks are impeding traffic flow, Main Roads will modify traffic signal timings to maximise traffic flow, particularly during peak periods."

Mr Buswell said CBD public transport would receive a significant boost with additional Red CAT buses in operation from July 2012, ahead of the July 2013 introduction of a new Green CAT service that would travel between Leederville and Esplanade stations via City West every 10 minutes.

"The new Green CAT service will relieve pressure on the existing popular Red CAT service and the Perth Underground Train Station, and bus lane projects will provide more reliable and improved travel times on Beaufort Street and Mounts Bay Road," he said.

"This coincides with the diversion of Riverside Drive between Barrack Street and William Street from mid-2013, for the Perth Waterfront Development, when an additional 14,500 vehicles a day will be redirected through the Graham Farmer Freeway tunnel.

"This impact will be managed through our $57million project to add a third lane to the Graham Farmer Freeway tunnel and increase lane capacity on the Mitchell Freeway to provide an alternative east-west route for CBD traffic."

Every week an average of 983 people currently move to live in Western Australia, according to the latest September quarter 2011 population data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

"The Liberal-National Government has provided unprecedented investment to not only transform our capital city but also ensure the capacity is in place to meet the needs of our growing population," Mr Porter said.

"The provision of this funding in the 2012-13 State Budget further strengthens our commitment to building our State for future generations."

The Perth CBD Transport Plan was prepared by the Department of Transport in partnership with the City of Perth, Main Roads WA and the Public Transport Authority, in consultation with the Department of Planning.

      Fact File

• Other major works committed to by the Liberal-National Government to address traffic congestion and improve public transport in metropolitan Perth include:
• $241m - northern suburbs rail extension to Butler
• $164m - purchase of an additional 15 three-car train sets
• $89m - Tonkin Highway, Leach Highway to Roe Highway  
• $50m - 3,000 additional car parking bays on the Joondalup & Mandurah rail lines
• $38.5m - Great Eastern Highway to Roe Highway interchange
• $35m - major upgrade of Great Eastern Highway - Kooyong Road to Tonkin Highway 
• $30m - Reid Highway-Mirrabooka Avenue interchange
• $30m - Mitchell Freeway, Hepburn Avenue to Hodges Drive (northbound additional lane)  
• $29m - Kwinana Freeway third lane (Leach Highway to Roe Highway) 
• $15m - major upgrade to the South Street-Murdoch Drive intersection
• $8m - Tonkin Highway, Abernethy Road on-ramp  
• 158 buses to accommodate the roll out of additional bus service kilometres of 3.3 million in 2011-12 incrementally increasing to 15.2 million pa from 2015-16 onwards

Minister's office - 6552 6400