The Age: Victorian election fact check: The East West Link. November 12, 2014 Clay Lucas City Editor, The Age
FACT CHECK
The Claim: The East West Link will “bust congestion”, Denis Napthine says.
Does it stack up:
The government’s traffic modelling says only 12 per cent of traffic coming off the Eastern Freeway each weekday morning wants to get into the CBD. And much of the traffic from the Eastern – at least a quarter – is ultimately bound for western parts of Melbourne, its modelling says.
The government also argues the East West Link will draw thousands of trucks off local streets and onto freeways – improving the flow of freight and reducing costs to business by improving connections, especially to the port and airport.
But “induced demand” – bigger and better roads encouraging more traffic – will have an impact down the track by drawing thousands more cars onto the road each day. The government says it has factored in induced demand when predicting the number of cars to use it.
Finding: PARTLY TRUE The road will “bust congestion” for cars wanting to go between Melbourne’s eastern and western suburbs – but only for a matter of years.
