- Published:
- Sunday 15 April 2018
Procurement will begin on Victoria’s biggest ever transport project, the North East Link, within the first 100 days of a re-elected Andrews Labor Government.
The Victorian Budget 2018/19 will invest an additional $110 million to fast-track the completion of detailed planning and design so that the project can be put out to market as quickly as possible.
Victorians will get their say, knowing that only a re-elected Andrews Labor Government will get the North East Link done.
The $16.5 billion North East Link will slash congestion across Melbourne’s north east, take thousands of trucks off local roads and create more than 10,000 new jobs during construction.
Travel times between Melbourne’s north and south will be cut by up to 30 minutes in each direction, with massive time savings for people travelling to Melbourne Airport from the south and east.
Local roads in the north-eastern suburbs will be returned to local residents – with 15,000 trucks and more than 9,000 vehicles taken out of traffic hotspots like Rosanna Road, Lower Plenty Road and Fitzsimons Lane.
Planning studies and community consultation are well underway following the announcement of a project corridor last year.
Locals will have a chance to see further design work on the project within weeks, with the full reference design to be released later this year.
While getting the North East Link done, the Labor Government will also work to fix Rosanna Road, with the Victorian Budget 2018/19 to provide $3.12 million to slash congestion and improve safety.
The North East Link will begin at Springvale Road, with six new dedicated lanes to eliminate the Eastern Freeway’s worst bottlenecks.
A five-kilometre-long tunnel will start at Bulleen Road, travelling deep beneath the Yarra River, protecting environmentally sensitive parkland and residential areas.
There will be a local connection at Lower Plenty Road, with the North East Link then running north alongside the existing Greensborough Highway – which will be returned to local use – before connecting to an expanded M80 Ring Road at Greensborough.
Quote attributable to Premier Daniel Andrews
“The choice at this year’s election could not be clearer – only Labor will build the North East Link.”
Quote attributable to Minister for Roads and Road Safety Luke Donnellan
“This project has been talked about for decades and is independently assessed as Victoria’s most needed transport infrastructure project. Now, we’re getting on with it to give local roads back to local drivers.”
Quote attributable to Member for Ivanhoe Anthony Carbines
“While North East Link will provide a long-term solution, our community needs traffic relief now – that’s why I’ve fought hard to secure new upgrades to improve traffic flow and pedestrian access to Rosanna Road.”