The PM AND Lappy, page-74

Hingdog, if you just keep attracting more and more vehicles into the city centre congestion is going to increase. As for what happens with emergency situations in a tunnel 12 kms long with few exits and full of backed up vehicles that include huge trucks, I shudder to think!

The outer ring road needs to be completed first, connecting the Eastern Freeway near Doncaster to the Metro Ring Road at Greensborough will take a huge volume of large vehicles out of the city centre and relieve pressure on WestGate. For example, I have a son in law who drives a B-double tanker from Wodonga to Bairnsdale every day; currently that means Westgate, the Tunnel and SE Freeway. The link above would cut at least a half hour from that trip and keep his toxic material truck out of the city centre.

As for Melbourne's rail and light rails systems; even the Libs promised the Doncaster line. But adding a few simple radial links and extensions from hubs such as Box Hill to Doncaster would ease the congestion problem.

I'm not saying the proposed the East-West Link would only benefit people using the Eastern Freeway. Of concern though is that it may actually worsen congestion on Punt Road - Hoddle Street.

We need our pollies to stop treating such matters as political footballs!