STUDY SHOWS WHY EAST WEST LINK IS NEEDED
A new travel time study has revealed the extent of congestion across the north of the city
The study carried out in May 2014 included 400 trips along the East West Link project corridor over a two week period, to provide a detailed understanding of existing travel times. Traffix Group Pty Ltd, who carried out this study, is accredited with VicRoads with nine pre-qualifications.
East West Link travel time savings
The key May 2014 findings from the study follow..
…………..In the morning peak, it takes an average of 34 minutes with a maximum of 47 minutes to get from the Eastern Freeway at Chandler Highway through Alexandra Parade and across to CityLink at Brunswick Road.
- In the afternoon peak, travelling west-east on the same route, it takes an average of 41 minutes and a maximum of 63 minutes.
Based on the fact that a trip through East West Link would take seven to eight minutes, average travel time savings for vehicles using East West Link shortly after its opening are estimated to be:
- Westbound – 27 minutes in the AM peak
- Eastbound – 33 minutes in the PM peak
The maximum travel time savings for vehicles using East West Link shortly after its opening are estimated to be:
- Westbound – 40 minutes in the AM peak
- Eastbound – 55 minutes in the PM peak
4 Comments
Despite all jargon you read about methods to limit car use, such as “reminding people of the true cost of owning a car”, we continue to pour money into new road projects. When will governments realise that we can never satisfy the demand for parking and roads in a car driven society? If we can move away from our car dependence we can create much more liveable, child-friendly and community-oriented areas. We should be funding the improvement and extension of our metro train and tram networks, including the redesigning of roads to provide more dedicated Bus and bicycle lanes.
I can’t wait for the East West link to be finished so I can get to work OR return home in only 35 mins instead of 90! That is a saving of nearly two hours a day, ten hours a week, extra time that I could spend at home with my family. Not to mention a substantial saving on fuel and far less wear and tear on my vehicle. I can’t wait to return home in a good mood and not savage my family after the stress of driving through heavy peak hour traffic.
Let’s face it, we are addicted to cars. We are a car society just like Los Angeles, which is why we have to build this link. All our city’s post war planning and capital have been directed towards the automobile at the expense of an efficient public transport system.
On the development of a ‘car culture’, Australian academic Graeme Davison, in his extensive discussion on the car and its place in Melbourne’s growth, wrote; “Cars are everywhere. They take us to work, shop and play. They monopolise our streets and roadways and mould the landscape to their insistent demands. They are homes away from home, little oases of privacy, where drivers sit alone with their thoughts amidst the hum of traffic or couples cling in dark side streets. In the battle of the sexes, cars are also powerful weapons. They are love objects and status symbols of danger and sudden death.”
When we talk of efficient public transport we can only mean rail. The plan to bring a railway to Doncaster, after many studies in past years, was officially abandoned back in 1991 due to the high cost. The latest rail study, was just a political stunt to pacify Doncaster commuters. It was aided and abetted by the Manningham council executive, who already knew the costs were prohibitive due to their close involvement in previous studies. Their motive was to help promote council’s high rise apartment strategy over the long period before the rail study was published. After its release they said; “we were shocked by the magnitude of the $11 billion price tag”….$3 billion more than the cost of the East West Link!
Peeved