A follow up audit by the Auditor-General into whether the Department of Transport (DoT) and the Major Transport Infrastructure Authority (MITA) effectively actioned recommendations he made in a 2017 audit of the management of the level crossing removal program has found they are yet to address all the issues he raised.
In his latest report, Follow up of Managing the Level Crossing Removal Program, Auditor-General Andrew Greaves said his Office’s 2017 audit had identified weaknesses in the Level Crossing Removal Project’s (LXRP) design and delivery.
“DoT and MTIA have fully addressed seven recommendations,” Mr Greaves said.
“DoT has partially addressed one and is still addressing a further two,” he said.
“In 2018, the Victorian Government expanded the LXRP from 50 to 75 sites, which increased the project’s total estimated cost from $8 billion to $14.8 billion.
“It is vital that agencies implement lessons learnt from the first stage of the project to improve the second stage’s delivery and value for money.
He said that for LXRP2 the Agencies had fairly balanced the principles of safety, congestion and delivery efficiency.
He said they also improved how they measured the project’s benefits and reviewed their procurement approach to ensure it minimised costs.
“However, DoT and MTIA did not complete a full business case for LXRP2,” he said.
“As a result, the Government did not receive advice about the project’s expected economic benefit before it made its decision to fund LXRP2.”
Mr Greaves said DoT was yet to complete work on engineering standards and network integrity controls.
His 59-page report can be accessed at this PS News link.
