And now they are going to add lanes to the Westgate, a bridge that they report to have structural problems with the current vehicle load. These lanes will appear by dispensing with the emergency lanes
according to reports...... what a sterling idea to clog this road further and ensure there is no access/egress when there is a breakdown and/or decent bingle.
Not that I work for the government but...the extra lanes on the Westgate are created by getting rid of emergency lanes and reducing the widths of the lanes. But as part of the project they put in a system of traffic lights above each lane. In case of an accident or breakdown, the lights come on with a red cross and close the lane effectively creating an emergency lane. The theory is, much better use of existing roadway because the emegency lane is used for general traffic unless there is actually an incident. Similar system to the tunnels around Melbourne.
The big ticket items are:
West Gate Bridge Alternative - Tunnel under Footscray Rd (part 1 of the full tunnel)
Peninsula Link - 16km Freeway between EastLink and Mornington Peninsula Fwy
Extension of train networks - Epping to South Morang, Cranbourne to Cranbourne East
North East Link - Freeway/Tunnel joining Eastern Freeway and Metro Ring Road
Outer Ring Road - Buying land reserves for Western Ring Rd
Tarneit Rail Connection - A train line from Weribee to Rockbank via Tarneit
Metro Rail System - A underground train tunnel from Footscray to St Kilda Rd
For me the key takeaways are
- Footscray, Kennsington, North Melbourne and South Melbourne will continue to be well serviced by public transport and even better served.
- Langwarrin, Baxter, Carrum Down will now have better access to rest of Melbourne via car
- Continued push to encourage growth west of the CBD by better quality rail and road infrastructure
- Yarraville, Seddon, Kingsville should have a reduction in trucks in local roads.
Agree with the rest though will anything actually happen.
