Serious problems began to emerge for the Cross City Tunnel management team (the Cross City Motorway Consortium) (New South Wales Parliament 2006a: p.XI) during 2005, soon after opening. The operator was, for instance, accused of "one giant rip-off" by a leading State-wide motoring body for overcharging vehicle users (Sydney Morning Herald 2005; New South Wales Parliament 2006a: p.XI). In response, it was claimed that drivers were avoiding the Tunnel, and instead using previous routes to arrive at their chosen destinations (Smith 2005). Perhaps to re-direct public anger from the public sector, the New South Wales Government made its position clear when a representative asserted that the State had no obligation to subsidise the operator's performance shortfall (Smith 2005). Other difficulties included alterations made to some local roads in central Sydney, which led to "considerable" community anger due to street narrowing and the end of free access to the Harbour crossings (New South Wales Parliament 2006a: p.XI) (these changes related to the associated road works that were completed after the opening of the Cross City Tunnel).