Perth metro NOR infrastructure

[gpo1971]

I made a post a while ago that its only a matter of time before the Mitchell Freeway becomes a car park and most people replied that the train is there as a viable alternative.
Reports today suggest that the Joondalup line is at critical and people looking to board the train Greenwood onwards are struggling to get on trains due to overcrowding.
The long-term approach to infrastructure and population distribution here is severely flawed. There are no plans in the budget to extend or widen the Mitchell Freeway, or develop another one. There are no plans to provide extra trains however there are plans to provide extra stations, albeit that that process will take years. Marmion Avenue was extended to Yanchep to provide an alternative route but it is only 1 lane each way.
Given that expectation is that up to 20,000 additional people will live in the Northern corridor over the next 10 or 15 years, it's going to get a lot worse.

[landv]

I made a post a while ago that its only a matter of time before the Mitchell Freeway becomes a car park and most people replied that the train is there as a viable alternative.
Reports today suggest that the Joondalup line is at critical and people looking to board the train Greenwood onwards are struggling to get on trains due to overcrowding.
The long-term approach to infrastructure and population distribution here is severely flawed. There are no plans in the budget to extend or widen the Mitchell Freeway, or develop another one. There are no plans to provide extra trains however there are plans to provide extra stations, albeit that that process will take years. Marmion Avenue was extended to Yanchep to provide an alternative route but it is only 1 lane each way.
Given that expectation is that up to 20,000 additional people will live in the Northern corridor over the next 10 or 15 years, it's going to get a lot worse.

Yes, that's absolutely right. My hubby catches the train to the city, he gets on the train at Clarkson, but says by the time the train gets to Greenwood, it is absolutely packed. And the trains are running every 5-10 minutes in rush hour and is still full!!! A few times he had to drive in to the city in the mornings, but had to leave an hour earlier than normal to avoid the traffic on the freeway. Im not sure how they will get around this problem, as you said there are no plans to extend the freeway, yet they are developing housing estates further north like Jindalee and Trinity, but fail to develop appropriate infrastructure, both the trains and the roads will not be able to cope with the volume of the people who will move to these new estates.

[gpo1971]

Yes, that's absolutely right. My hubby catches the train to the city, he gets on the train at Clarkson, but says by the time the train gets to Greenwood, it is absolutely packed. And the trains are running every 5-10 minutes in rush hour and is still full!!! A few times he had to drive in to the city in the mornings, but had to leave an hour earlier than normal to avoid the traffic on the freeway. Im not sure how they will get around this problem, as you said there are no plans to extend the freeway, yet they are developing housing estates further north like Jindalee and Trinity, but fail to develop appropriate infrastructure, both the trains and the roads will not be able to cope with the volume of the people who will move to these new estates.

Give it a couple of years & the train will be chocker block by the time it gets to Joondalup, never mind Greenwood.

[Paul1Perth]

judging by the reports on the radio in the mornings and evenings South of the river is much the same too. Sounds like the trains and Kwinana freeway are just as packed.
That's the price you pay for having a successful state I guess.
When we came here in 92 the freeway stopped at Hepburn Ave and Marmion was a single track quiet road. No train at all. There was bushland after Iluka until Mindarie and it used to be a real day out to visit Mindarie.

We rented for a year in Como and when we moved our landlord said "where are you moving to? That's South Geraldton".

It's a catch 22. They aren't going to put infrastructure in until there are a lot of people and the people move to the newer suburbs on promises of more infrastructure, which usually takes a few years to come.

[gpo1971]

That's part of what I'm saying though Paul.
They extend the freeway beyond Hepburn - 2 lanes. They then extend the freeway beyond Hodges - 2 lanes. Despite knowing that 20,000 people are moving here & it will be totally inadequate about 2 years later.
They extend Marmion to Yanchep - 1 lane. Despite knowing that about 10 million houses are getting built up that way and that road will be totally inadequate about 2 years later.
Either bad planning or penny pinching.

[Paul1Perth]

I agree mate. Always seems to catch up too late. They have left room to widen the freeway later on and have done the same further down. Used to be 2 lanes further down and I could have sworn they had messed up totally and not left enough room as the bridges didn't look wide enough to widen it. They managed somehow though.
To be fair in the 19 years we've been here the place has changed dramatically with new suburbs going in, Marmion being widened and extended (a few times), train down the freeway North and South, rail link through the city, northbridge tunnel, new road down south.
It all takes time and a lot of money. We would all like them to do it all at once but they can only spend money when they have it, that's without borrowing loads and putting the state into debt.

I lived in Manchester in the UK and worked down London for a while. Now you are talking traffic jams in both places. We still have rush hour here, morning and afternoon, so it's not yet quite as bad as either of the places I lived in the UK.
I ended up getting a motorbike in England as the drive was just too frustrating. It had got a lot worse too when we went back on holiday a few years ago.

Like I said that's the price of success, more people, more traffic, more crime, bigger City. Can't keep Perth a secret for ever, Unfortunately.