Yarra’s Response to the Eddington Report and Submission on Proposed Clearway Extensions

Due to its location, the City of Yarra is greatly impacted by the flow of traffic to and from the CBD and from the eastern suburbs. Yarra City Council is committed to supporting the growth of sustainable transport and prioritising sustainable modes of transport over cars. We believe that the only way to ease Melbourne’s congestion problems is to get people out of their cars and onto public transport, on their bikes, or walking.

In mid-July 2008, Council lodged submissions with the State Government in response to two controversial transport announcements: the release of Sir Rod Eddington’s ‘Investing in Transport’ report, and the blanket extension of clearway times within 10km of the CBD.

For a summary of Council’s submissions, please refer to the attached fact sheet, or select the relevant submission to view in full:

Clearways submission

Council’s submission made the following key points:

• The State Government’s complete lack of consultation is appalling, decisions need to be made on a site by site basis, in full consultation with the local Council and businesses.
• The introduction of blanket clearways is unacceptable and fails to consider the major economic impact this will have on some of Melbourne’s premier shopping strips.
• Facilitating single occupant vehicle access to the CBD is poor policy as it will only cause more people to drive and congestion will be compounded.
• Efficiency on our roads can be improved by appropriate investment in public transport and better enforcement of priority vehicle lanes, bus lanes and tram fairways.

Response to the Eddington Report

Council’s submission in response to the Eddington report makes four key statements:

• Council strongly opposes a road Tunnel. Road building will not solve congestion, but merely encourage more people to drive with further impact on greenhouse gas emissions. The tunnel’s construction will bear significant costs on the Yarra community in terms of increased congestion, urban design impacts and disruption for a number of years.
• Council supports improvement to Melbourne’s rail network. Investment in extending and improving the rail network is long overdue. Any long-term plan to improve Melbourne’s rail system must include a rail line to Doncaster as identified and promised over 30 years ago.
• Council supports a Rapid Transit Bus System to the Doncaster corridor, but not as a substitute for a rail line to Doncaster. Council supports the rapid bus transit system as a short-term solution only. A rail line is the most effective mode of mass transport in the medium to long-term and Council will continue to rigorously pursue this outcome.
• Council fully supports improvements to bicycle links and prioritisation of public transport. However, Council does not support the blanket extension of clearways. The first step to improving the efficiency of public transport is the effective enforcement of priority vehicle lanes, bus lanes and tram fairways.

City of Yarra Submission to Investing in Transport, East–West Needs Assessment, a Study by Sir Rod Eddington

Advocating for Better Transport Solutions - Responding to the Eddington Report and proposed clearway extensions

Code of Practice for Clearways on Declared Arterial Roads to The Hon John Brumby, Premier of Victoria

---

Further information

Sustainable Transport

Richmond Town Hall
333 Bridge Road Richmond
Telephone 9205 5373
Email info@yarracity.vic.gov.au

Links

Within this site

Yarra's original Submission to the Eddington Enquiry

Public Transport
Carsharing

External sites (Yarra City Council accepts no responsibility for the information or opinions contained within external sites)
TravelSmart
Metropolitan Transport Forum

Information supplied by: Electronic communications & design officer - 9205 5214 - 20 January 2006

---