N.E. LINK MEANS MORE CARS….LESS TRAIN TRAVEL

NORTH EAST LINK TO SHIFT 25 K RAIL PASSENGERS A DAY TO CARS

“The project would contribute to an increase in car trips and reduction in public transport trips across the network. Because of the location of the project, it competes most directly with sections of the rail network, principally the Hurstbridge, Mernda, Upfield and Craigieburn corridors. This is reflected in an estimated reduction in train boardings of 25,000 on an average weekday. Metro Ring Road, East Link and Eastern Freeway are expected to increase demand” .. Infrastructure Vic    

The State Labor

Government have announced a new Statutory Authority, with a $100 million budget allocation, to carry out investigation and design for a North East Link to connect the Metropolitan Ring Road and the Eastern Freeway/Eastlink.

The toll road is expected to attract car and trucks from the Rosanna Road/Bulleen Road route and provide major congestion and amenity relief to the residential areas of Watsonia and Heidelberg.

Three options identified for investigation and design.  

Under Banyule Flats?

a) The cheapest and most likely route would run north-south just east of Rosanna Road, then through the Banyule Flats to join the Eastern Freeway.

b) A more central route would follow a rough arc from the eastern end of the Ring Road, cutting through Eltham and Park Orchards to join Eastlink at Ringwood.

c) An outer eastern route extending out beyond the established areas of Wonga Park, to join EastLink south of Ringwood

There is not sufficient land reserved for any of the above options, so all of them would require extensive compulsory land acquisition, and / or tunnelling. All three would require major bridge crossings of the Yarra River. The central and outer-eastern options go through steeply sloping bushland, so conventional road construction would produce major impacts.

Premier of Victoria Press Release

Head Of North East Link Project Appointed To Get It Done

The Andrews Labor Government is getting on with the missing link in Melbourne’s road network, appointing an expert CEO of the new specialist North East Link Authority (NELA).

Duncan Elliott will join NELA from the RACV, where he is currently General Manager of Membership and Rewards.

A qualified engineer with decades of experience in Victorian roads, Duncan will lead an expert team of engineers, designs and specialists through planning in 2017, procurement in 2018, and construction from 2019.

He comes to the project with a long history in the roads and infrastructure sector, including a number of years as VicRoads Regional Director of the South Western Victoria region, and VicRoads Regional Director of South West Metro.

The North East Link will connect the Metropolitan Ring Road at Greensborough to the Eastern Freeway and EastLink.

Extensive technical, environmental and social investigations will determine the best route for the project, with a key focus on protecting existing urban areas and minimising environmental impacts.

The project will take trucks off local streets and reduce congestion in Melbourne’s northern and eastern suburbs. It will provide an essential north-south connection, catering for Melbourne’s future growth, while linking the eastern suburbs to the northern and western suburbs and the airport.

The North East Link is Victoria’s next priority road project identified in Infrastructure Victoria’s  historic 30 year plan.

Extensive community engagement, planning and business case development has now begun, and procurement will commence in 2018.

The Labor Government has kick-started the project with $35 millionto develop the North East Link business case, consultation and route selection which will be complete by the end of the year.

Quotes attributable to the Minister for Roads Luke Donnellan

‘The Andrews Labor Government will build the North East Link – the only project that can actually slash congestion in Melbourne’s north, south, and east, while the Western Distributor fixes traffic in the west.’

‘Duncan is a road expert – he has a passion for working with the community, and will bring local knowledge as a resident of Melbourne’s North Eastern suburbs.’

 

                       

8 Comments

  1. Leeral says:

    And those extra cars that are expected to reduce the number of train commuters will have only the driver and a fair portion of them will be large SUVs. One measure to ease congestion would be to ban vehicles without passengers in the peak periods.

    1. Wouldbetrain traveller says:

      It could all change if councils were willing to acquire more parking areas close to railway stations or Bus terminals. If you live more than a half mile away from a railway you will need to drive there but if there is no parking available you have no option but to use the freeway to get to work. This is what is happening locally where both Booroondara and Manningham have such a small area for city Bus commuters. These lazy bureaucrats can’t have it both ways on one hand they predict a fall in train travel but on the other they won’t get off their backsides and help with the acquisition of land for parking to encourage train travel.

  2. Courvent says:

    The Ringwood option would be preferred because it would be less disruptive to freeway traffic flow than the Banyule alternative which would meet the eastern freeway where it is most congested. The bulk of afternoon peak hour traffic would have already left the freeway before it reaches the junction at Ringwood which makes it the more desirable route. The Lilydale link would be the least likely because of the cost factor.

    1. Indecision says:

      There is a problem with the Banyule link which is why they are humming and haring, not so much over the cost but being in a position where they have to rob Peter to Pay Paul. The dilemma is either take the pressure off the narrow and dangerous Rosanna Road along with the increasing traffic burden on Heidelberg Road and Fitzsimons Lane in return for severely hampering traffic flow on the Eastern Freeway. They have been hand balling the problem between successive governments since the link was first planned more than 14 years ago.

  3. Whittaker says:

    It will only be signed off IF Labor gets re-elected in two years. If they were confident of obtaining funding for the project they should be able to start construction well before then. What they are saying to the electorate is if you don’t vote for us you may never get the N.E. link. Even if they were sincere it would not be built before 2029.

  4. Woody says:

    It would be no surprise if overseas developers finish up building the freeway. They are building and buying all the apartments so why not. We are lucky if we have sufficient money to pay the thousands of bureaucrats involved let alone financing the freeway construction.

  5. Simon says:

    This writer makes no mention of the real reason behind the disgraceful decision of the radical Andrews government to waste over one billion dollars not to build the East-West Link. This project was cancelled for two reasons; firstly, because it was not a CFMEU project, and secondly, to try to stop the Greens winning a couple of inner-city seats from the ALP. Anybody who has had the misfortune to drive a car through this part of Melbourne knows it is a critical piece of missing infrastructure. Leftist “experts” such as those in the Grattan Institute do not have the answers to our infrastructure crisis.

  6. Alvin says:

    The State is broke and the proof is that we don’t have a fast rail to the Airport like other major cities. It was a relief for bureaucrats when the east west link was cancelled just like it will be when the the north east link is abandoned.

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