It appears that the East-West Link will not directly impact on Kensington; at least there doesn’t seem to be tunnel portal opening out at JJ Holland Park, as in the 2008 plan! We went to the public information session on Saturday 1 June but we didn’t learn anything we didn’t already know. There were no details about on and off ramps, and no traffic data about why a Link is needed. Pretty futile really. Officers said all this would be made public in July.
We say: ‘Hands off Kensington community; hands off all communities’.
The State Government has made the East-West Link the centrepiece of its budget and Tony Abbott has promised to support it, if elected. Click HERE for State Government press release. Click HERE (item in The Age). Click HERE (item in the Herald Sun). There is no support for the Link in the Federal Labor budget. The State government has decided to press ahead with the first stage of the Link, from the end of the Eastern Freeway to CityLink. From the Eastern Freeway the Link appears to be at ground level for some 100s of metres, then becomes a tunnel. When it reaches CityLink there is a branch north and south. At this stage, it appears that the Link will not directly affect Kensington, unlike the 2008 plan which had the tunnel springing out of the side of the hill in JJ Holland Park!
Further info refers to an off ramp at Elliott Avenue at Flemington Road to allow traffic to get back into the City. (Thinks: Hard to see how that would work. Could be a vain attempt to solve the problem that a Link without exits towards the City does not make sense, but to have exits means trashing Carlton.)
Click HERE for info about funding and reference to Elliott Avenue.
Click HERE for animation of route.
Click HERE for report that trip might need to cost $10.50
Click HERE for City of Yarra ‘Trains not toll roads’ event, 13 June
The Melbourne Metro One (an underground rail link from South Kensington, via North Melbourne, University of Melbourne, Flinders Street, to Domain) has missed out in the State budget but is supported in the Federal budget.
Since October 2011 when Crikey.com got the scoop that the Link had been revived, we have gathered every scrap of information that has become public and put the links up on this website. So you can get the facts (such as they are) here. Below, you will find a whole lot of links. Not enough? OK, we have another page with even more!
Recent documents indicate a route that appears to miss Kensington. This makes sense, because it will be much cheaper to have the Link join with CityLink, rather than tunneling west through to JJ Holland Park, as was proposed in 2008. Whether or not Kensington is impacted, we oppose detrimental impacts on the amenity of any community. It appears that North Melbourne, Parkville (especially Royal Park), Carlton, Fitzroy and Collingwood may be affected by the Link, at least during the construction phase.
Should there even be a Link? That’s a question a bit above the pay grade of the Association, and we are not getting into that. Our mission is to protect the amenity of Kensington, not plan for Melbourne’s transport future. That means the Link only becomes an issue for the Association if it threatens Kensington’s amenity (as the 2008 plan did) or the amenity of other suburbs.
Obviously, Kensington residents as citizens are likely to have various opinions about the Link, and can express them via State-wide associations, among them The Greens who are opposed to a Link and the Liberals who support it.
One place to have your say is via a blog on the Leader website
Click HERE for the Yarra Campaign for Action on Transport Facebook page with more info re. Link and concerns of communities in the firing line.
Even if the Link were to miss Kensington, it could still threaten the amenity of other suburbs. Hence our policy: ‘Hands off Kensington community; hands off all communities’. We will not tolerate threats to the amenity of Kensington and if a threat is seen as it was in 2008, we will assist the community to mobilize against it. Melbourne is a world class city, in the top 2 or 3 ‘most livable cities’. Voters will not thank a State Government that wrecked inner city heritage areas to build yet another tollway.
(Thinks: Vancouver is another of the top 2 or 3 ‘most livable cities’. Vancouver abandoned freeway construction decades ago. How did they do it?)
Get ready by checking out what is being said about this project:
Click here for item The Age, 26 March 2013: Link could cut swath through inner suburbs
3 October 2012: Ministers say City Link tunnel closures show need for E-W Link
22 September 2012: Uni prof questions viability of E-W Link
13 September 2012: Current view and opinions about East-West Link
24 August 2012: State pleads Canberra to contribute $2 billion for Link
Click here: Metropolitan Transport Forum of interested councils opposes Link
20 August 2012: Transport ‘Czar’ says Link required
Click here: Linking Melbourne Authority map – Link may bypass Kensington
30 July 2012: Major union will campaign to get Link built
25 July 2012: News on proposed Doncaster rail
17 July 2012: Proposal to toll existing freeways
13 July 2012: Infrastructure Australia says Link project is ready
13 July 2012: State Government asks for funding for Link
9 July 2012: Are drill sites clue to tunnel route?
2 May 2012: Ken Davidson’s view
1 May 2012: Government press release
1 May 2012: State Government intends to build Link
31 March 2012: Part of Link may be above ground
12 November 2011: Then it hit The Age
26 October 2011: It all started with a rumour on Crikey
If all this isn’t enough info for you, go to News ‘Older posts’ ‘East-West Road Link – more stuff’.