Western Connection | Non-profit organisation

Western Connection

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25.01.2022 Hi Everyone, In the latest edition of the Docklands News you will find this story, on Western Connection and our hope to combine communities about Melbourne inner north-west for the sake of saving E-Gate from the West Gate Tunnel TOLLWAY. Have a read of the story and get in touch with me if you think it is time to make a stand before the state election. Thanks, Anthony

25.01.2022 Hi everyone... yes... I have not posted for quite some time. At the moment Western Connection has been parked in neutral... not a lot happening. I would love to achieve more, but most of what I have done to date has been my own efforts... and I am running out of steam for his project. There are so many better solutions that could be put together for the E-Gate site that would benefit everyone... including Transurban, but getting people to listen is proving difficult. One of the last meetings we has was with a City of Melbourne councillor, and it seems they have also rolled over and given up on fighting the proposed roadway across the E-Gate site. Anyway... if anyone has got more energy than me, and has any useful ideas on what we should do next I am happy to listen. Cheers for now, Anthony

24.01.2022 I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and can now enjoy a break! Have a good one!

24.01.2022 Hi everyone... we have been a bit quiet of late... busy with other work and also waiting to hear where the Minister of Planning was going with his decision on the E-Gate site. It now seems like the Western Distributor tollway WILL go across the E-Gate site... and we think this is very disappointing. I am going to start working towards a response soon... but we will try and keep everyone in the loop. Cheers, Anthony

23.01.2022 Hi Everyone... we have been a bit quiet over summer, but I think we need to ramp up the campaign again soon. Watch this space.

21.01.2022 ... beggars belief...

21.01.2022 Transparency, or the lack thereof, is becoming a serious problem for Victorians and we need to start acting against it soon. It is rather appalling that communities, including those on the edge of Melbourne’s CBD are being railroaded on decision by council and government individuals who see themselves as the grownups making decisions for their kids rather than our community’s elected representatives!!!

20.01.2022 I am not a fan of Matthew Guy (or quite a few other State MPs for that matter), but I do believe Melbourne has to have a conversation soon on connecting the East to the West. What' more, we need to do it BEFORE we get too far down the road building other infrastructure projects. The whole piecemeal process of designing and building Melbourne's infrastructure has to end. We need to create a clear, comprehensive, global vision for Melbourne now other wise we are never going to resolve many of the problems that we have created for ourselves over the past twenty years.

19.01.2022 Hi all, this a new video from The Greens... Getting time to start writing letters! At the moment Labour is still planning to put an elevated road across the E-Gate site.... please help us stop this stupid idea.

19.01.2022 Hi Everyone, Yes, its been a while since I have made a post on Western Connection, but with the news that the West Gate Tunnel project is haemorrhaging money I think its time to start discussing the city end of this project again. If you are not already familiar with the project, Transurban and the State Government planned to spend hundreds of millions of dollars reinventing Footscray road with overhead lanes and spaghetti junctions and shuffle traffic from Dynon Road across ...to Wurundjeri Way via E-Gate. Most of this over-engineering was for the sake of creating TOLLWAYS... nothing more, nothing less. Anyway... I am wondering if it is time the government started looking for ways to cut costs on this project? I can think of a few, and they are documented on our website - www.westernconnection.org.au What are your thoughts?

18.01.2022 We have a problem in Melbourne... politicians who have regular, politically-motivated thought bubbles, rather than clear, practical longterm visions and goals for our city. Please... lets make credible planning a priority for the city, rather than simply jumping from one idea to the next just for the sake of being seen to be doing something.

16.01.2022 So... the West Gate Tunnel builders had no idea what to do with excavated soil, even as they began digging their big hole in the ground. The funny thing is, once (if) this project is completed we are all going to be wondering what to do with all the traffic this road is going to dump into the CBD. Lets take this pause in the project to reconsider some of the assumptions that have been made for this project, and the design of the spaghetti junction they have proposed for #Docklands.

12.01.2022 It’s simple... questions need to be asked.

12.01.2022 Hi Everyone... its been a while but do know we are still working away quietly (in between all the other work one has to do in life!). Last week I presented Western Connection's ideas for E-Gate to a small group of RMIT urban design students, and in the process we are still engaging with officialdom. Anyway... in The Age this morning there is a story on all the various major road projects that officials want to build over the next 15 years... and one of them is the East West ...Link. Whatever you may think, the fact remains that Melbourne is at the top of a bay, and other than building a tunnel beneath the waters, the only way for people to get from the West to the East side of the bay is to go up and through the city. And THIS IS WHY I did not think the proposed West Gate Tunnel plan is really that valid... for the moment its big ambition is to connect traffic from the West to Citylink... and the CBD. There is no vision for getting any traffic across the city where we know a lot of it is trying to go. The last iteration of the East West link failed because it was an exceptionally poor design... taking traffic from the West, putting it into a dog leg on Citylink and then funnelling that traffic East beneath Royal Park. If one truck jackknifed on that road... not only would CityLink grind to a halt, but so too would East-West traffic. Before too much more work gets done on the West Gate Tunnel... the "powers-that-be" need to put together a far more cohesive vision for Melbourne's long-term traffic and infrastructure needs than what we are being offered at the moment. Too many politicians and bureaucrats are grabbing at the myopic thought-bubbles of minions... and in the process the city is being ruined in the resulting mediocrity.

12.01.2022 Below is a link to a summary of current government projects in the pipeline, and some of the documentation...

11.01.2022 This from today's paper. The City of Melbourne is proposing to make the central city safer for cyclists and among its top recommendations is "Reducing the number of cars in central Melbourne". Maybe the City of Melbourne should be fighting a little harder against the West Gate Tunnel traffic dump that is proposed for the Western edge of the CBD!!

10.01.2022 Have a read of this story in today's Age, and then reflect on the E-Gate situation... Transurban wants to put a new road (tollway) directly across the E-Gate site!! We don't want this road! Instead... lets use the E-Gate site to create strong connections (or access as is mentioned in the story) for our city's commuters, cyclists, local residents, interstate and international visitors. Please... lets rely on good design to improve the city... not corporate greed.

10.01.2022 The true costs to motorists revealed...

09.01.2022 Have a read of this and ask yourself... should we be spending money on grandiose roads with sweeping facades, fancy lighting and unwanted elevated tollways... or should we be investing some of that money into improving our rail corridors? Western Connection is very concerned about Transurban and the State Governments plans to put an elevated tollroad directly across the E-Gate site, right next to the city's most important rail corridor. This rail corridor, between North Melb...ourne Train Station and Southern Cross Train Station supports Metro, Regional and Interstate trains... and it would also be the gateway for the often proposed Airport train link. This corridor needs upgrading. In our opinion, it is possible to get traffic from the West Gate Tunnel into the city efficiently, and without impacting on the rail corridor. Please... lets spend money on improving rail access into Southern Cross Train Station, and not on trying to squeeze more cars into the CBD.

06.01.2022 Well done to Greens and Libs for voting against the West Gate Tunnel today... but let us not forget that stopping a road project is not the same as providing a viable solution to Victoria's many infrastructure requirements. What we need from State Government now, is an intelligent, comprehensive, integrated solution for Melbourne's transport needs that doesn't just look at road solutions... but rail, tram, bus, pedestrian, bicycle solutions. The West Gate Tunnel can be viable... but not in its current grandiose form.

03.01.2022 I think most people in Melbourne will be happy to see news that the Airport Rail Link is back in discussion... and with the PM throwing $5-billion into the mix to help things along. Most of us know that sickening feeling of heading out to the airport, only to get stuck in traffic on CityLink, wondering if we are going to miss our flight. Now... here is the important consideration... is that rail corridor between Southern Cross Train Station and North Melbourne Train Station l...ikely to cope with much more additional train traffic, let alone a new service. We need to be pressing the state government to abandon their plans for a tollway across the E-Gate site and instead we need to invest in improving the rail corridor. If we do not, there is every chance that in the not too distant future we could be sitting on a train heading to the airport... wondering if we are going to miss our flight! See more

01.01.2022 Hi Everyone Apologies for rather being quiet lately... aside from not a lot to report I have also been waiting for more information about what is planned for the E-Gate site, and suffice to say there is none! Two months ago I did drop an executive summary of Western Connections concerns and ideas into the new City of Melbourne mayor, Sally Capp, and a week I met her again at an event and passed on a second copy of the summary. Two days later the mayor announced she had signe...d an agreement with the State Government regarding the site... but still no details to talk about. The attached story from the Docklands News should give you some more information. Anyway, I think we need to start pushing the State Government and the City of Melbourne for more discussions with the community about what is planned for the E-Gate site, and how it will impact West Melbourne and Docklands. Keep me posted with your ideas. Thanks, Anthony