Orbital motorways are common in many large metropolitan areas. No Australian city yet has a completed orbital motorway, but recent decisions in Sydney and Melbourne will mean that both metropolitan areas will have a complete (or near complete) orbital motorway in place within the next few years. The Western Sydney Orbital and Melbourne's Scoresby Freeway are both major pieces of infrastructure which will serve not only the corridors in which they are built, but form vital links in a 360 degree circumferential road.. This paper, based on a review of the experience of other cities in the world, outlines the policy issues that be addressed by State and Federal Governments and their road agencies in their decision-making about orbital motorways. The broad policy objective should be to maximise the community and road user benefits which can result from a decision to proceed with an orbital motorway, while any potentially negative outcomes are foreseen and taken into account in the policy and decision- making process. (Author/publisher) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E209537. This paper may also be accessed by Internet users at: http://www.btre.gov.au/docs/atrf_02/program.html
Abstract