Background
In May 2006 the Victorian Government announced that as part of its "Meeting Our Transport Challenges" action plan, it had appointed Eddington–then reviewing Britain's transport system for the Blair Government–to head an independent investigation into the best transport solutions for connecting Melbourne's eastern and western suburbs. The government's brief noted that the majority of east-west traffic in the city was carried on just two links, the Monash andFindings
Eddington's study noted that Melbourne's strong economic and population growth would result in a 30 percent increase in demand for travel, by both public transport and private motor vehicles, by 2033. There would also be a 50 percent growth in freight being moved around Melbourne and to and from the city's ports and airports by 2020. He said it was vital that there were higher levels of investment in public transport as well as the development of urban areas that were conducive to walking and cycling. But he added: "The evidence is clear that the number of trips made by car in Melbourne will increase by a substantial amount for the foreseeable future–and the city’s road network must be able to cope with this increasing demand in an efficient and sustainable manner." He said any transport proposals arising from the study had to make a major contribution to: *Improving opportunities in Melbourne's west and supporting the strong population growth taking place there. He said the city had a significant east-west divide that led to reduced opportunities for jobs and business growth in the west. *Supporting the growth and consolidation of Melbourne's "knowledge centre" around Carlton and the Parkville precinct, whose research institutes, teaching hospitals and universities would be critical to Victoria's leadership in biotechnology, medical research, health services and education. Eddington said he had avoided a "road vs rail" approach to transport planning, seeking the right combination of modes that offered the best options for meeting Melbourne's east-west transport needs over the next 30 years. He said "retro-fitting" large-scale transport projects into a city the size of Melbourne would cause unavoidable short-term disruption, but would produce long-term benefits. He concluded: "Doing nothing is not an option. The cost of improving these transport connections is substantial – but the cost of inaction is far greater."Summary of recommendations
The proposal totaled over A$18 billion in costs. The report contained 20 recommendations including: *Planning work should begin for a staged construction of a new 17 km Melbourne Metro rail tunnel to link western and south-eastern suburbs and provide a major increase to the rail network. *An early start should be made on building a new rail connection from Werribee to Sunshine to improve the frequency and reliability of services from Werribee, Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo. *Planning work should begin on the staged construction of a new 18 km cross-city road connecting the Eastern Freeway with the western suburbs. *Community amenity in the inner west should be restored by implementing a Truck Action Plan to remove truck traffic from local streets in the inner west, including road improvements that form an effective bypass around residential areas, reinforced by local truck bans. *The Doncaster Area Rapid Transport (DART) upgrade announced in the 2006 "Meeting Our Transport Challenges" plan, incorporating high quality bus services, additional bus priority measures and a major new bus-rail interchange at Victoria Park station in Abbotsford. *Additional links should be built to improve cross-city cycle connections. *The Victorian Government should work with local councils to escalate citywide implementation and enforcement of priority measures for trams and buses. *A fund should be established to develop Park and Ride facilities. *The Government should take action to increase rail's share of freight. *A single statutory authority should be created to deliver the Eddington plan's recommended projects.Implementation
The Brumby government released its final decisions in theReferences
External links
Originally published, but no longer available at