By Christine de Kock
EXPERTSare set to review the Melbourne City Council’s plan to link the East with the West through upgraded road and rail infrastructure.
Independent engineers on this occasion will review the Committee for Melbourne’s transport strategy (developers of the initial road tunnel proposal) in comparison with the council’s $10 billion EastWest Integrated Transport Proposal.
The review will also assess the economic and environmental impact of both proposals, in addition to a public transport based alternative of a similar magnitude.
The call for a review of the East West Integrated Transport Proposal was made last Tuesday at the City of Melbourne’s council meeting.
The review is expected to be presented to the council before the end of the year when it finalises its draft transport strategy.
A number of infrastructure developments were suggested as part of the proposal when it was announced earlier this month – including running two tunnels under Footscray – but specific details of the plan were not decided.
A 10km tunnel from the Eastern Freeway to Footscray, with an exit at Ballarat Rd, was proposed.
Under the plan, heavy vehicles heading towards the Tullamarine Freeway, the Melbourne CBD, CityLink, the Western Ring Rd and the Western Hwy would be redirected through the tunnel.
The link was expected to be an underground duplicate of the Westgate Freeway and would incorporate a railway line.
A second underground rail freight tunnel was also set to be considered as part of the project, and was expected to run along a similar route to the existing Bunbury St railway freight tunnel.
Greens councillors from across Melbourne spoke out against some of the widerreaching elements of the EastWest Integrated Transport Proposal. But they congratulated the council on developing and presenting a plan, unlike the State Government which had been promising for three years to release the Inner West Integrated Transport Strategy.
Maribyrnong councillor Janet Rice said in a statement that she supported the EastWest Integrated Transport Proposal’s inclusion of the Doncaster rail line.
But the councillor challenged the claims that the plan would not increase the road capacity for private vehicles.
“Unfortunately, that is nonsense,” Cr Rice said.
“Building a tunnel between the Eastern Freeway and the Tullamarine Freeway, and a road tunnel out west would significantly increase road capacity.
“And it would encourage more people to drive and make the Doncaster rail line less viable.”
