Transurban’s $6.7 billion mega-toll road proposal for Melbourne.

What is it?

The West Gate Tunnel began as the Western Distributor proposal to get noisy, poisonous trucks off the residential streets of the inner West. Transurban’s proposal has morphed it into a mega plan to lock the West into a car dependent future.

It consists of an expanded 12-lane West Gate Freeway toll way, short tunnel, 3 giant bridges across the Maribyrnong River, then an 18-lane double-decker Footscray Road leading to spaghetti interchanges and flyovers in the city and West Melbourne.

What is it?

The North-East Link is a proposed 26km road project connecting the Metropolitan Ring Road in Greensborough with the Eastern Freeway at Bulleen, along with upgrades from Hoddle Street to Springvale Road, including widening lanes and dedicated bus lanes.

Construction is set to begin in 2019/2020 with estimated completion in 2027. It is estimated to cost between $10-$16Bn, making it the most expensive Victorian road project in history.

Have you heard the Eastern Freeway has some of the worst travel times in Melbourne? A key reason is there are currently zero rail or tram services to or through this part of town. The surrounding suburbs bus services is patchy at best. Complaints about services are increasing while patronage drops. Instead, everyone has to jumps in their cars and onto the freeway.

Building new roads does little if nothing to solve traffic congestion. The North East Link is going to add 95,000 cars a day to the already choked freeway. I live up here in Doncaster and this mega road plan scare me.

Our transport system is a mess.

Roads don’t relieve congestion, they create it.  But state government after state government keep building roads. They keep putting the road lobby and private interests before smart transport solutions.

This is why we need to build enough momentum to stop ANY mega toll road project that they put on the table.

And that’s where our #GetOnBoard plan comes in.