Dr Pieter Nagel, Director of VU's Institute for Logistics and Supply Chain Management (ILSCM) says that Melbourne's current heavy reliance on the Westgate Bridge is unsustainable.
He said: "There is no argument that Melbourne is suffering from chronic traffic congestion - especially in the light of recent reports that the average speed on the link to Melbourne's booming western growth corridor is down to 40 km/h in the morning peak - compared with 75 km/h ten years ago."
"The population boom in Melbourne's west has contributed to this. It is predicted that there will be rapid population growth in Melbourne. Melton and Wyndham have both been selected for the new State Government Urban Growth Zone, where the rezoning of land for residential use will be fast-tracked to enable thousands of new homes to be built. It's clear that this will make congestion over the bridge even worse."
"I agree with statements by Minister Pallas that an alternative must be found to ease congestion."
"ILSCM analysis of current and planned infrastructure serving Melbourne's west indicates that there is insufficient transport infrastructure to accommodate the current and forecast exponential population growth in Melbourne's west."
"In the next 25 years there will be a 56 per cent increase in the population of Melbourne's west and the current roads and public transport structure will simply not cope with the volume of traffic movements to the inner suburbs of Melbourne."
"ILSCM believe that a new tunnel linking Ballarat Road to the Eastern Freeway would not only help relieve congestion but would also improve connectivity across the whole city - the latter is essential for both freight and public transport."
"Connecting the Eastern Freeway only to CityLink, will limit the efficiencies that could be brought by connecting right through to Footscray. It is not a real 'east meets west' solution. Not taking the tunnel through to Melbourne's inner west, will compromise the long term economic development of the inner west."
"We need to seriously look further into the future and consider what ILSCM's proposal will bring to the entire inner west. It is not a matter of only the tunnel, but the overall economic impact that such a connection will have."
Dr Pieter Nagel is available for interview. Mobile: 0412 505 849
Media Contact: Andy Gash, Snr. Media Officer
Marketing and Communications Department, Victoria University
Ph: (03) 9919 4950; mobile: 0411 255 900.
