RESIDENTS have taken part in an online State Government forum to thrash out concerns about Melbourne’s transport issues.
Last Friday’s forum provided feedback on three aspects of Sir Rod Eddington’s Investing in Transport report on Melbourne’s east-west transport needs: freight, public transport, and roads.
The most popular issue was roads, which attracted 141 comments.
In his report, Sir Rod recommended a new road link from the west to the Eastern Freeway, which he said could provide a long-term alternative to the West Gate Bridge.
Contributors discussed the ongoing rise of fuel costs, traffic congestion, traffic flows along CityLink and EastLink and the effects on the community if the road was built.
About 100 comments focused on public transport, including the 17-kilometre rail tunnel linking Melbourne’s western and south-eastern suburbs, improvements to buses in the Doncaster area, development of a dedicated fund to introduce more park-and-ride facilities, and more links to improve cross-city cycle connections.
One contributor suggested the Monash and Doncaster rail links were of “utmost importance” to reducing traffic congestion on the roads, with focus needed on servicing Monash and Deakin universities to fill the gap in train and car accessibility.
