The Weekly Review: East West Link: Former mayor labels time savings ‘garbage’ Sue Hewitt. 14 August 2014
A former Yarra mayor has labelled the state government’s East West Link travel claims as “garbage” and believes she has the video to prove it.
Alison Clarke took to the road in the morning peak hour traffic to disprove claims East West Link will shave precious travel time off a journey from the Eastern Freeway to CityLink.
Watch the full video below
The Premier Denis Napthine made the claims last week after releasing a study by consultants Traffix Group which stated an average of 27 minutes would be shaved from the morning peak commute.
Ms Clarke released a video of her trip from Hoddle Street to CityLink with a video camera filming a clock strapped to her dashboard and the route ahead, starting at 8.20am as she turned into Alexandra Parade, Collingwood.
When she turned into Flemington Road to meet up with CityLink, the clock showed the peak hour journey had taken 22 minutes.
“The Premier is promising me to save 27 minutes on a 22 minute journey,” she said.
“So now we have the mystery solved – why is this toll way so incredibly expensive? I think it is a time machine or perhaps this is just more garbage in, garbage out modeling by the government, the kind we have come to expect about this project.”
Yarra Council joined forces with Moreland Council to launch legal action in the Supreme Court against East West Link last month.
