EastLink (Melbourne)

For other meanings of "EastLink", see Eastlink (disambiguation).

EastLink is a A$2.5 billion tolled freeway linking a large area through the eastern and south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. 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 controversy.

EastLink is electronically tolled with no cash booths, using a system developed by SICE. The SICE Tolling System is the most advanced in operation in the world, similar to (and interoperable with) the e-TAG system used on the CityLink freeway. EastLink was opened to traffic on Sunday June 29 2008 and in conjunction with the opening, a month long toll-free period occurred before regular tolling commenced on July 27 2008.

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

History

Construction of EastLink over Boronia Road in Wantirna

The road was originally shown in the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan as the F35 Freeway. 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.

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. 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.

The opening of the road on June 29, 2008 saw traffic on nearby Stud, Springvale and Blackburn Roads drop by 30% to 40%, but traffic on the a Eastern Freeway rose by 5 per cent at the Burke Road intersection, and by about 1-2 per cent at Hoddle Street in the city. On average 270,868 cars, trucks and motorbikes travelled on the road every day until the tolling was introduced on July 23. In the first week after the introduction of tolls, the average number of daily trips fell to 133,722. This was in line with estimates of a 40 to 50 per cent decline, but is a third below prospectus forecasts. The average toll per trip was $3.10 - above the estimates of $2.91.

Naming history

The road was originally shown in the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan as the F35 Freeway.

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. 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.

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.

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, while between Thompson Rd and Frankston Freeway, there are 2 lanes running in each direction.

Exits and intersections

Map of EastLink and surrounding roads. For legend, click the image

EastLink
Northbound exits	Distance from Eastern Freeway (km)	Distance from Frankston Freeway (km)	Southbound exits
End EastLink continues as Eastern Freeway to Melbourne	0	39	Start EastLink from Eastern Freeway
Nunawading, Donvale Springvale Road			Donvale, Nunawading Springvale Road
MELBA TUNNEL	--	--	MULLUM MULLUM TUNNEL
Ringwood, Mount Dandenong Ringwood Bypass	5	34	Ringwood, Mount Dandenong Ringwood Bypass
Nunawading, Box Hill (left turn only) Maroondah Highway			Ringwood, Box Hill Maroondah Highway
BELGRAVE / LILYDALE RAIL LINE			BELGRAVE / LILYDALE RAIL LINE
Forest Hill, Heathmont Canterbury Road	7	32	Heathmont, Forest Hill Canterbury Road
Mitcham, Wantirna Boronia Road	9	30	Wantirna, Mitcham Boronia Road
Burwood, Belgrave Burwood Highway	11	28	Belgrave, Burwood Burwood Highway
Glen Waverley, Wantirna South High Street Road	13	26	Glen Waverley, Wantirna South High Street Road
Oakleigh, Scoresby Ferntree Gully Road	16	23	Scoresby, Oakleigh Ferntree Gully Road
Mulgrave, Rowville Wellington Road	18	21	Rowville, Mulgrave Wellington Road
no exit	--	19	Dandenong North, Springvale Police Road
Chadstone, Melbourne Monash Freeway	21	18	Warragul, Melbourne Monash Freeway
Oakleigh, Dandenong Princes Highway	23	16	Dandenong, Oakleigh Princes Highway
GIPPSLAND RAIL LINE	25	14	GIPPSLAND RAIL LINE
no exit	--	13	Dandenong, Mentone Cheltenham Road
Keysborough, Dandenong Dandenong Bypass	28	11	Dandenong, Keysborough Dandenong Bypass
Mordialloc, Narre Warren Greens Road	30	9	Narre Warren, Mordialloc Greens Road
Carrum, Cranbourne Thompsons Road	36	3	Cranbourne, Carrum Thompsons Road
no exit	39	0	Carrum Downs, Cranbourne Rutherford Road
Start EastLink continues from Frankston Freeway			End EastLink continues as Frankston Freeway to Frankston / Portsea

Dandenong Bypass

Main article: Dingley Freeway

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.

Tolling

File:EastLink Breeze.png

EastLink is electronically tolled via a system commercially called Breeze, entirely provided by SICE, Spanish system integrator company with broad experience in the tolling market. This system is fully interoperable with all other tollways in Australia, including the Transurban e-TAG system used on CityLink.

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 the Road Side 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, waived for motorcycles). 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 vehicle's owner. If the toll invoice is not paid, 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 four wheel drives, 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 path

The EastLink Trail is a shared walking and cycle path that 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.

A panoramic view of EastLink looking north from the Heatherton Road bridge.

Controversies

Maroondah Highway bridge, Ringwood looking towards the railway bridge.

EastLink looking south from the Koomba Road footbridge

The EastLink Operations Centre in Ringwood

• The most notable 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 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.

• A court case was heard, where the plaintiffs argued that constructing EastLink would result in pressure to build the "missing link" between EastLink and the Metropolitan Ring Road. They claimed that such a freeway would damage the environmentally sensitive green wedges through either Eltham and Warrandyte or Heidelberg and the Yarra Flats. Indeed, as at October 2008 (months after the opening of EastLink) there is mounting pressure to build this "missing link".

• 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.

• Although there is speculation that existing public roads will be restricted to increase traffic on Eastlink [2], there is legislation in place prohibiting the restriction of traffic [3], and SEITA has stated that "Importantly, the State Government has passed legislation to maintain the existing capacity on arterial roads. The EastLink Act and the contract between the State of Victoria and ConnectEast prohibits closing or narrowing any existing roads in an attempt to force people onto EastLink." [4]

• 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.

• 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.

Environmental issues

The bridge of EastLink over Dandenong Creek, in Ringwood/Wantirna

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.

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. Other options considered in planning included a surface road for the entire length, much shorter tunnels, and slightly longer tunnels.

However, despite the attention on tunneling beneath the Mullum Mullum Gorge, the Ringwood Interchange is entirely above-ground and has resulted in relocation of the creek through this area.

See also

• Freeways in Australia
• Freeways in Melbourne

External links

• EastLink official website (run by ConnectEast)
• ConnectEast (the developer of EastLink)
• The Southern and Eastern Integrated Transport Authority (EastLink information)
• SICE (the main contractor for the free-flow tolling system project)

Other links

• EastLink Flyover - a video clip from heraldsun.com.au showing aerial footage of the EastLink route
• ABC Online Report on project groundbreaking
• Justice Gray's ruling on the likelihood of the Scoresby Freeway being a catalyst for further freeway building in environmentally sensitive areas