North East Link route A slammed by Whitehorse Council

WIDENING the Eastern Freeway will have a “catastrophic” effect on Whitehorse, a councillor has warned. The council has maintained fierce opposition to the North East Link Authority’s Option A proposal amid concerns about traffic congestion.

Whitehorse councillor Prue Cutts says widening the Eastern Freeway will have a catastrophic effect on traffic in Whitehorse.

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WHITEHORSE Council has maintained fierce opposition to the North East Link Authority’s Option A proposal amid concerns about traffic congestion.

The authority expects the new link, a tolled roadway between the Metropolitan Ring Road and EastLink, would carry 100,000 vehicles a day. Option A details an 11km corridor that would follow the Greensborough Highway south and connect with the Eastern Freeway near Bulleen Rd.

The route has been hailed as a direct alternative to congested roads in the north east, with tunnels that would run under Rosanna, Heidelberg and Viewbank.

Councillor Prue Cutts slammed Option A at a recent council meeting as an “ill-conceived, poorly researched idea”, citing inadequate traffic modelling studies and pollution as key concerns.

“Let’s have no doubt that this widening of the Eastern Freeway is going to have catastrophic effects on the whole of the City of Whitehorse,” she said.

Councillor Ben Stennett said it would create “bottle necks” of lanes choking under the pressure of carrying an extra 40,000 predicted vehicles a day. All councillors confirmed their opposition to Option A, and agreed they needed to inform the Whitehorse community about the potential outcomes of the proposed link.

Councillors indicated they would host a public forum in which Option A would be discussed with the Whitehorse community.