EastLink

For other meanings, see Eastlink (disambiguation).

EastLink is a A$2.5 billion tolled freeway linking a large area of Melbourne's eastern and south-eastern suburbs. It is a part of Melbourne's Metropolitan Ring Road project. It was originally proposed as a toll-free road, however the state government later reneged and imposed tolls. The Federal Government subsequently withdrew their earlier offer of partial funding. This continues to be a source of ongoing controversy.

EastLink is electronically tolled with no cash booths, using a system entitled "Breeze". The system is similar to (and interoperable with) the E-Tag system used on the CityLink freeway. On May 11 2008, it was officially announced that EastLink would open to traffic on Sunday June 29 2008 and in conjuction with the opening, a month long toll-free period would occur before regular tolling commences.

The project was constructed by a joint venture of Australian construction companies Thiess and John Holland, with mechanical and electrical work contracted to United Group Infrastructure.

Route

EastLink begins at the eastern end of the Eastern Freeway at Springvale Road in Nunawading, before tunnelling eastward towards Ringwood under the Mullum-Mullum Creek area. It then travels 40 km south towards Frankston, passing through the suburbs of Wantirna, Wantirna South, Scoresby, Rowville, Mulgrave, Dandenong North, Noble Park, Keysborough, Dandenong South, Bangholme, and Carrum Downs, before ending at the northern end of the Frankston Freeway. The majority of the freeway has three lanes running in each direction, however further to the south it has mainly two lanes.

Exits and Intersections

EastLink
Northbound exits	Distance from Eastern Freeway (km)	Distance from Frankston Freeway (km)	Southbound exits
End EastLink continues as Eastern Freeway to Melbourne	0	45	Start EastLink from Eastern Freeway
Donvale Springvale Road	0	45	Donvale Springvale Road
MELBA TUNNEL	--	--	MULLUM-MULLUM TUNNEL
Ringwood Ringwood Bypass	5	40	Ringwood Ringwood Bypass
Ringwood Whitehorse Road			Ringwood Whitehorse Road
BELGRAVE / LILYDALE RAIL LINE			BELGRAVE / LILYDALE RAIL LINE
Ringwood Canterbury Road	7	38	Ringwood Canterbury Road
Wantirna Boronia Road	9	36	Wantirna Boronia Road
Wantirna Burwood Highway	11	34	Wantirna Burwood Highway
Wantirna South High Street Road	13	32	Wantirna South High Street Road
Scoresby Ferntree Gully Road	16	29	Scoresby Ferntree Gully Road
Rowville Wellington Road	18	27	Rowville Wellington Road
no exit	--	25	Mulgrave Police Road
Dandenong North Monash Freeway	21	24	Dandenong North Monash Freeway
Noble Park Princes Highway	23	22	Noble Park Princes Highway
GIPPSLAND RAIL LINE	25	20	GIPPSLAND RAIL LINE
no exit	--	19	Keysborough Cheltenham Road
Keysborough Dandenong Bypass	28	17	Keysborough Dandenong Bypass
Keysborough Greens Road	30	15	Keysborough Greens Road
Carrum Downs Thompsons Road	39	6	Carrum Downs Thompsons Road
no exit	45	0	Carrum Downs Rutherford Road
Start EastLink continues from Frankston Freeway	45	0	End EastLink continues as Frankston Freeway to Frankston

Dandenong Bypass

A 4.8km section of the Dingley Freeway called the Dandenong Bypass (also referred to as the Dandenong Southern Bypass during its construction) was built by ConnectEast and Thiess John Holland as part of the EastLink project. The bypass opened on December 9, 2007.^[1]

History

Management and Recent History

In 2003, the Southern and Eastern Integrated Transport Authority (SEITA) was established by the Victorian Government, to manage and oversee the project on behalf of the government. SEITA was responsible for managing the process of selecting a private sector bidder.

In October 2004, SEITA awarded the contract for the design, construction, and operation of EastLink to ConnectEast, a company that was publicly listed on the ASX in November 2004. ConnectEast subsequently contracted Thiess John Holland, a group formed by the partnership of two major constructon companies, to carry out the detailed design and construction of EastLink.

ConnectEast, as owner of the road, is now responsible for its day-to-day management, until the concession deed expires in 2043 (a period of 39 years).

EastLink's construction began in March 2005, and the road will open on June 29 2008.

Naming history

Over the years the project was variously referred to as the Eastern Ring Road, Scoresby Freeway, Scoresby Bypass, and Mitcham-Frankston Freeway.

On 23 March 2005, with the beginning of construction on the project, then Premier Steve Bracks announced that the road would be called EastLink, at a ceremony in Rowville.^[2] The new name was reportedly chosen because it is easier to say and apparently easier to remember and fit on the street directories.

On February 27 2008, it was announced that the EastLink / Monash Freeway interchange would be named the "Tom Wills Interchange", after the founder of Australian rules football Tom Wills.^[3]

On March 24, 2008 Tim Pallas announced that the twin tunnels would be named 'Melba' and 'Mullum Mullum', in the inbound and outbound direction, respectively^[4].

Tolling

Datei:EastLink Breeze.png

EastLink is electronically tolled via a system entitled Breeze. This system is fully interoperable with all other tollways in Australia, including the Transurban e-TAG system used on CityLink and other tollways in Australia.

The system features a uniquely designed electronic vehicle tag, the "Breeze Tag", which is about half the size of the standard design of e-TAG. The Breeze system is provided by Spanish company SICE, with much of the equipment, including the Breeze Tags, provided by Swedish firm Kapsch TrafficCom AB, under the PREMID brand of DSRC products.

Tolls on EastLink can be charged in three different ways:

By having any Australian electronic tolling "tag" (such as a Breeze Tag, or Transurban's e-TAG) in the vehicle. Tolls are charged to the corresponding tag account.
By registering a Breeze non-tag account with ConnectEast. A photograph of the number plate(s) of each vehicle is taken and matched to an account, charging the account holder the toll plus a small processing fee (23c). Alternatively, "Access" accounts registered with CityLink may also be used in this manner.
By purchasing a "trip pass" valid for a single one-way trip on EastLink from ConnectEast either over the telephone, via the EastLink website, or from a retail outlet. Vehicle recognition for trip passes is done the same way as for non-tag accounts. Drivers can purchase multiple trip passes at once, as passes are stored until used. However, trip passes expire six months from the date of purchase.

If a driver travels on EastLink without taking any of the three actions above to pay for the toll(s) either prior to, or within three days after travel, an invoice for cost of the toll(s) plus an account processing fee will be sent to the registered vehicles' owner. If they do not pay the toll invoice, an overdue notice (with an additional processing fee) is issued. If the invoice is still not paid, a fine is issued by Victoria Police.

Prices and discounts

Prices for the use of the tollway vary between sections. For cars, a one way trip between two consecutive interchanges starts from 33c for sections between Maroondah Highway and High Street Road, slightly more for the longer sections near the south of the tollway, right up to a one way trip through the tunnel section between Maroondah Highway / Ringwood Bypass and Springvale Road which costs $2.28. Lower rates apply to motorcycles while higher rates apply for some 4WD's, some utility vehicles, buses and trucks.

Discounts are also offered to car drivers. A 20 per cent discount applies to the cost of any trip(s) taken on a Saturday or Sunday and also to one way trips between two consecutive interchanges (excluding the tunnels) on weekdays. At any time, cars will not be charged more than $4.96 for a one way trip on EastLink.

Shared pedestrian/bicycle path (EastLink Trail)

The EastLink Trail running through southern Koomba Park

A shared walking/cycle path follows the same route as the EastLink project. Using it, cyclists and pedestrians are able to cycle or walk most of the distance of the road uninterrupted, along a 3 metre wide dedicated concrete path.^[5]^[6]

The path follows the tollway for most of its length, passing through or near to:

Mullum Mullum Valley, Ringwood Bypass, Schwerkolt Cottage, and Eastland (Mullum Mullum Creek Trail)
Simpsons Park / Heatherdale Reserve Proclamation Park
Koomba Park (combined with Dandenong Creek Trail) and Wantirna Reserve
Blind Creek / Llewellyn Park Complex and the Blind Creek Trail
Nortons Park, Shepherds Bush, and Drummies Bridge Reserve
Jells Park (including trail network) and Chesterfield Farm
Mulgrave Reserve, Dandenong Creek, and Tirhatuatan Park
Fotheringham Reserve Trail, Mile Creek, and Greaves Reserve

The path ends at the Dandenong Creek Trail in Dandenong South, which follows the tollway as far as Bangholme. It then heads west, taking users to the National Watersports Complex, Patterson Lakes, Carrum Foreshore, and the Port Phillip Bay Trail Network beyond.

Footbridges cross EastLink at a number of points along the trail, and another takes path users across the Princes Highway. A 60 metre footbridge over Burwood Highway at the Mountain Highway intersection is also currently under construction.

Vorlage:Wide image

Controversies

The biggest controversy surrounding this project has been the issue of tolls. The Victorian Government, led by Steve Bracks, initially gave an undertaking that the road would be toll free, a promise on which they later reneged. This led to a total withdrawal of what had been partial federal funding of the project. This policy change has caused much debate, discussion and some resentment in some quarters, and was a major issue in the run up to the 2002 state election. The Victorian Government's position is that project was not viable without tolls.

The Federal government withdrawal of funding was based on the premise that funding was only available for the road if the road was toll free. However, at the same time, they were also funding a tolled freeway in Sydney, the Westlink motorway. This led to the controversial belief in some quarters that the funding withdrawal was solely designed to discredit the Victorian Government, rather than being driven by a reluctance to fund toll roads.

The Victorian State opposition, led by Robert Doyle, initially opposed any form of tolling on the road. Subsequently this policy was changed to support tolls. The opposition leadership now led by Ted Ballieu continues to support tolls.

During the planning stages of the project, businesses in the Rutherford Road industrial area (located at the Southern terminus of the freeway) wanted access via on/off ramps to the Mornington Peninsula Freeway and Frankston Freeway, in addition to EastLink. Prior to this project they had an off ramp only from the Mornington Peninsula Freeway; into the industrial area. Under Eastlink, this will be retained, but no onramps will be built onto these existing roads. The Mornington Peninsula Freeway, and the Frankston Freeway, despite being on their doorstep will be inaccessible. The only onramp from Rutherford Road will be onto EastLink, Northbound.

One of the terms of the contract between the private company managing the freeway and the State Government is that should the State Government close any public roads, leading to a measurable increase in traffic (and therefore revenue) on the toll road, the State Government would be entitled to 50% of the revenue increase resulting from the public road closures. This has triggered speculation that the government may close some public roads to boost its own revenue. A possibility is that the government will close a lane in each direction on Springvale road, a public road that runs parallel to the Eastlink freeway. To justify the lane closures, the State Government could argue that traffic volumes had been reduced on Springvale road by the Eastlink and that the closed lanes would be more suitable as bus-only lanes.Vorlage:Fact New northbound lanes have recently been constructed as Bus Only lanes between Waterways Estate and Cheltenham Road. These may be extended further north along Springvale Road.

On August 28, 2006, due to the late completion of bridge preparation works on the Belgrave and Lilydale railway line, the line was closed for the morning with inadequate warning to commuters of the closure of the line between Blackburn and Ringwood stations causing chaos at Ringwood where lengthy queues formed for the replacement buses. Passengers at Heatherdale, Mitcham and Nunawading stations were stranded because of the mess where the delay was caused by the portable crane "Snow White" being unable to operate near the rail line where bridge supports are being constructed. The ground was too soft for the crane and gravel had to be ordered in causing the delay. Theiss John Holland has to pay penalties to Connex Melbourne while commuters will not be reimbursed.^[7]

Finally, many in the local area at the Southern end of EastLink argue that EastLink will in fact funnel much more traffic onto the Frankston Freeway, which will only aggravate the existing congestion at the Frankston Freeway terminus; at the corner of McMahons Road and Cranbourne road. They argue further that a Frankston Bypass is necessary, to complete the missing link in the currently split Mornington Peninsula Freeway. This has received much attention in local Frankston newspapers. VicRoads argue that their research indicates no such congestion will occur. The Frankston Bypass route has long been marked in the Melway street directory. Former Victorian Transport Minister Peter Batchelor, has in the past said that "just because a future freeway appears in the Melway, does not mean that the road is planned or will ever actually be built". Frankston Council has been in talks with EastLink, with a view to getting the bypass built from EastLink to as far as Cranbourne Road. In addition, the local MP for the Federal seat of Dunkley, Bruce Billson, is also working with local councils with a view to applying pressure on the state government for the Frankston Bypass to be built.^[8]

Environmental issues

Many environmental groups in Melbourne's east and south-east objected to the project, due to a number of factors, including vehicle emissions and disruption of habitat (in places such as the Mullum Mullum Valley and Dandenong Valley Wetlands). However, the road was the subject of an extensive Environmental Effects Statement (June 1998), which was followed by an extensive public hearing process in April 1999 before the final Government decision to proceed.

According to EastLink's builders, the road will relieve traffic congestion throughout Melbourne's eastern and south-eastern suburbs, resulting in more efficient traffic flow, therefore reducing fuel consumption and exhaust output.^[9]

During the planning phase (then a VicRoads project), a large debate surrounding damage to the Mullum Mullum Valley occurred. A number of options for the path of the road through the valley were considered. The option chosen - for two 1.6 km tunnels - was the second-to-most expensive, and the second-to-most environmentally friendly.^[10] Other options considered in planning included a surface road for the entire length, much shorter tunnels, and slightly longer tunnels.

References

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