North East Link
Mr TAYLOR (Bayswater) (19:13): (6493) The North East Link is the biggest ever investment in Melbourne’s east, and it will change the way people move around the east and Melbourne forever, so I wish to raise a matter for the Minister for Transport Infrastructure. I would like to have the Minister for Transport Infrastructure come down to our part of the world to discuss further the massive future upgrades to the Eastern Freeway as part of the broader North East Link project. One of the biggest and most significant parts of this exciting project will see a major overhaul to the Eastern Freeway. We are adding more than 45 kilometres of new lanes where they are needed most and up-to-date technology which will slash travel times on the Eastern by up to 11 minutes. There will also be six express lanes that will provide smoother trips between Middleborough Road and Chandler Highway, reducing the merging and weaving that cause congestion today. In addition to the major overhaul to the Eastern Freeway are of course the new twin tunnels, which will close the missing link finally in Melbourne’s freeway network and connect the Eastern Freeway from Bulleen Road to the M80 ring-road. We will upgrade the ring-road with five new lanes, smart technology and a seamless interchange with the North East Link. The North East Link tunnels will also take 15 000 trucks off local roads every day and slash travel times by up to 35 minutes. The cherry on top is that the project will also see the creation of Melbourne’s first dedicated busway, which will make it quicker and easier to get to and from the city, slashing travel times for more than 6 million express bus trips a year.
In a nutshell: massive project, huge investment in the east, slashing travel times. It stacks up, it is creating lots and lots of jobs and construction is absolutely well and truly underway. On that note, I look forward to welcoming the minister out to discuss progress on this project and what it means for our community very soon.