Yarra Campaign for Action on Transport

Read the excellent article by  JASON DOWLING, published in THE AGE August 30, 2010

With the government planning spaghetti junctions down the length of Hoddle Street and Punt Road, and a New Freeway above Hiede Museum in Banyule, it is time to consider traffic calming as a better alternative.

The Hoddle Street Study has ruled out demand management to deal with Hoddle Street traffic (such as congestion charges or traffic calming). The Roads Minister won’t  allow the study to consider a train to Doncaster. Even including a public transport fare in the admission price for MCG events seems to be out of Vic Roads very limited scope.

Thirty years ago, voters stopped the extension of the Hume Freeway along the Merri Creek and Hoddle St to  St Kilda Junction by giving the Hamer Government a near death experience. A generation later, the message needs to be restated.

PENINSULA Link builder Abigroup won’t bulldoze the environmentally sensitive Westerfield property until the outcome of a Heritage Council appeal.

Roads Minister Tim Pallas told The Frankston Leader while Abigroup had all the permits to start construction, it would now wait until the appeal lodged by the property owners was finalised.

Ominously Mr Pallas added, “Let’s hope the Heritage Council can deal with the matter as quickly as possible.”

Mr Pallas was in Seaford last week to spruik Abigroup’s new office and the Brumby Government’s Peninsula Link, a 27km toll-free road.

Sadly, Peninsula Link will go through native undisturbed bushland, while the investment is directly taken away from decent public transport to the peninsular. Once complete it will add to the road lobby’s push to extend the Eastern Freeway to City Link via Collingwood, Fitzroy North, Carlton and Princes Park.

Bill Russell from the Centre for Urban Studies said on ABCs Stateline on Friday 16th July that:

” we will probably see the metro rail tunnel funded in the next two or three rounds of federal funding. But as I say, the trucks action plan is quite small; it’s only $380 million and the state could fund that from its own resources, really. And then, I think that both the WestLink and the Peninsula Link really ought to be postponed five or ten years into the future.

Save The Pines’ Gillian Collins, who is leading the Community Picket that has so far saved the bushland said:

“With a State and Federal election looming, we remain hopeful that this project will be stopped, the land repaired, and more public transport and an upgrade to Moorooduc Highway will be considered. It’s not too late.”

Health risks for those living within 500m of main roads

The Age June 20 2010

CHILDREN living within 500 metres of a major road or freeway are at greater risk of developing asthma, while adults face an increased likelihood of lung and heart-related illnesses, a landmark health study has revealed.

Hoddle Highway?
The state government has announced a $5 million ‘engineering study’
into congestion in Hoddle St.

But do tunnels and road expansions solve congestion?

And what would it take to really solve traffic problems on Hoddle St?

Come to an open forum to discuss local transport issues.

With Greg Barber, Greens Member of the Legislative Council, Kathleen
Maltzahn, Greens Candidate for Richmond, Brian Walters, Greens
Candidate for Melbourne and local Greens councillors.

7.30pm, Thursday 1 July 2010, Mark St hall, 1 Mark St, North Fitzroy

While there has been a lot of talk about giving priority to Buses and Trams on our roads, and Network Operating Plans, that pupport to give priority to pedestians, cyclists and public transport, the Department of Planning, in cohorts with the Deparment of Transport are legislating to give priority to freight on Hoddle Street.

“The Transport Legislation Miscellaneous Amendments Bill 2008 gives the Minister for Roads and Ports powers to declare priority roads for trams, buses, bicycles, pedestrians and freight. So we are not just talking about putting brightly coloured lines on a map. We are talking about road and rail lines where freight will be given the priority it needs to get to its destination.”

- Minister for Roads, Tim Pallas Speech 12th February 2008

Hoddle Street appears on the map of the Metropolitan Principal Freight Network, at figure six, Direction One of Freight Futures.

The Minister for Planning has approved and is now seeking parliamentary ratification of Amendment VC55. Subject to Parliament’s approval of the Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution legislation, it will then come into operation.

VC55 is a major change to the planning scheme, including growth boundaries, but it also incorporates Freight Futures and the Victorian Transport Plan as a reference document in the Melbourne Planning Scheme.

So is it game over for Hoddle Street to be a more people-friendly place?

Well not until the parliament passes the VC55 into law, and Greg Barber MP is calling for a committee to review the bill.

May 21, 2010 From The Greens

After fighting the secretive State Government for over a year, Greens MP Greg Barber finally got the State Government’s submission to Infrastructure Australia which tried to justify federal funding for the Westlink Freeway.

Barber discovered yet another good reason why the Westlink Freeway should not be built - for every $3 that Brumby wants to spend on the Westlink, only $1 would come back.

“The Westlink freeway is so economically daft that neither private investors nor the federal government wants to build it,” said Mr. Barber. Now even Rudd agrees that freeways don’t make economic sense, which is why he’s refusing to give Brumby the money he wants for the freeway.

Rudd’s own adviser said the money would be much better spent on improving public transport.

But now that Rudd won’t open up the coffers for Westlink, Brumby wants Victorian mums and dads to pay for it.

The story was reported on the front page of The Age today by CLAY LUCAS May 21, 2010

For those interested in the nitty gritty, read the secret documents that Greg Barber spent a year fighting to put in the public domain.