Secret poll on extended, tolled Metro ring road - News.com.au

John Ferguson
August 18, 2008 12:00am

THE State Government is discreetly polling the electorate about extending the Metropolitan Ring Road through prized bushland.

Multi-storey housing developments in the outer suburbs is another topic for pollsters.

Voters are being asked about the impact of extending the ring road from Greensborough to join EastLink or the Eastern Freeway, despite key Labor MPs having opposed the move in the past.

If adopted, a road extension from Greensborough to Ringwood through the green wedge area could lead to the compulsory acquisition of homes in Diamond Creek, Eltham and Warrandyte, and the alienation of parkland.

...

A government spokesman said the polling was part of preparing this year's transport strategy and an extension to the ring road was being ruled neither in nor out.

"And as the idea has been raised in several submissions to the Eddington report it has been included in our consultations," he said.

The Government is reportedly investigating two options for extending the ring road -- one a 6km link from Greensborough to the Eastern Freeway, the other a massive road project from Greensborough to EastLink, joining at Ringwood.

A shorter option, from Greensborough to the Eastern Freeway via Bulleen Rd, has been backed by local Labor MP Craig Langdon.

The Government's telephone polling was leaked after a Liberal Party figure was surveyed at his home.

Mr Guy said the Government had also sought voter sentiment on:

• REMOVING trucks from streets in the inner west.
• AN 18km cross-city connection.
• A 17km rail tunnel between the west and southeast.
• DEVELOPING an outer ring road.

The Government asked voters to reveal how they felt about multi-storey buildings in their local areas, and how they felt about multi-storey buildings in outer-suburban Melbourne.

Planning is a crucial issue among many voters, with the Government attempting to determine how the electorate would accept multi-storey housing in the outer suburbs around public transport, allowing the Government to capitalise on land close to existing infrastructure.

Read the whole article at News.com.au

Eastlink operator's shares plunge - The Age

Andrea Rotondi

August 8, 2008 - 2:09PM

Everything's pointing down for the Eastlink freeway at the end of its toll-free period with a plunge in motorist numbers reflected in a savaging of its operator's share price.

- ConnectEast shares down 14.1%
- 'Too early to draw conclusions': operator
- Average 133,722 trips last week

The average number of daily trips on Melbourne's newest freeway have plunged 49% since tolling began on July 27, according to figures released today by ConnectEast.

Shares in ConnectEast, the freeway's operating company, were mauled today, plunging 14.5 cents, or 15%, to 85 cents, after earlier falling as much as 23%. It is the company's biggest one-day fall since it listed in November 2004.

Melburnians were happy to accept a free ride on the motorway during its toll-free period with 270,868 trips made on average per day.

However, the introduction of tolls, costing an average of $3.10 per trip, saw patronage plummet to an average 133,722 trips last week...

Read the whole article at TheAge.com.au

New orbital freeway plan for city

A CONTENTIOUS proposal to build the "missing link" in Melbourne's outer ring road network will be considered as part of a wider plan by the State Government to deal with Melbourne's transport chaos.

Premier John Brumby has confirmed that a freeway link through some of the city's most environmentally sensitive areas will be among a series of proposals considered in a far-reaching new transport plan.

By linking the Metropolitan Ring Road to the the EastLink tollway, the road would create a continuous "orbital" freeway of outer Melbourne, running about 100 kilometres from Altona in the west to Frankston in the south.

Two alternative routes will be looked at: a six-kilometre link from the Greensborough Highway to the Eastern Freeway, and a more ambitious 15-20 kilometre road from Greensborough to EastLink.

Motoring group the RACV said it expected the Government to provide "a strong commitment to the planning and implementation" of the new freeway.

But putting the project on the agenda would amount to a policy reversal by Labor, which has repeatedly promised not to build the missing link in the ring road since winning power in 1999.

In 2001, then transport minister Peter Batchelor told Parliament that any suggestion Labor would ever allow a freeway link between the Eastern Freeway and the ring road was "a fear campaign, a smear campaign".

Yesterday Mr Brumby confirmed that the ring road plan was among a range of potential projects other than those in Sir Rod Eddington's transport blueprint, released in April. "There have been a lot of other proposals about other things that we might do (including) outer ring roads," Mr Brumby said.

Among the main proposals from Sir Rod was a $9 billion freeway to link the Western Ring Road to the Eastern Freeway via a tunnel under Royal Park. However, it is believed Sir Rod was frustrated by his narrow brief, which looked only at the links between Melbourne's eastern and western suburbs...

Read the rest at http://www.theage.com.au/national/new-orbital-freeway-plan-for-city-20080707-34em.html

Who-da thunk it? Mr Brum-brum-brumby want's to build another road!