Organisation:

Affected property:

744

Erik Krauklis

Please refer to PDF attachment.

Attachment 1:

Comments:

Full Name:

No, but please email me thRequest to be heard?:

Submission Cover SheetNorth East Link Project EES IAC

Attachment 2:

Attachment 3:

1 Environment Effects Statement for North East Link Project – Traffic & Transport Submission by Erik Krauklis – Elizabeth Street, Bulleen 3105

Traffic and Transport segment for North East Link EES Submission for consideration by Panel regarding Environment Effects Statement for North East Link Project (NELP) Private submission by Erik Krauklis 4 Elizabeth Street, Bulleen 3105

Personal Qualifications for Making Comments: I make my comments and observations as a 65 year old who has lived in the west end of Bulleen all his life. I am a Victoria Police (VicPol) veteran of 42 years having retired in 2014, but have remained active in the local community. In VicPol I held a middle management position in traffic policing, management and policy for fifteen years from 1998 attending and speaking at seminars, conferences and talking about road traffic issues internally and to external organisations such as local councils, VicRoads and Transport Accident Commission. Within general management I attended and qualified at State Emergency Management courses being involved in preparation of local Municipal Emergency Plans in suburban and semi-rural settings. I was involved in many and varied critical incidents either as Incident Controller or VicPol advisor working in conjunction with other Emergency Agencies. In this submission the comments I make will draw on my knowledge and experience within VicPol as well as my knowledge of the local area. Comments will not be in any specific order of importance. I am willing to attend the panel if required.

2 Environment Effects Statement for North East Link Project – Traffic & Transport Submission by Erik Krauklis – Elizabeth Street, Bulleen 3105

Choice of Offered Options:

The government formed the North East Link Authority (NELA) to progress and oversee the project.

NELA released four options for the route with a summary of pros and cons for each route and which

route suited the requirements for NEL as set out by the Authority. Whilst it is not reproduced here, it

was plain to see that criteria set out with the supporting information led directly to Option A. Within

days of the selection process being completed, the government announced Option A with fanfare,

glossy pamphlets, plus a lot of information which could not have been prepared in such a short

amount of time.

Figure 1 represents the options as circulated by NELA

which gives a good representation of the approximate

routes for each choice. Figures 2 and 3 give a closer view

of each route, A and C respectively.

The objectives for the project were to achieve the

following:

Complete the ‘missing link’ in Melbourne’s orbital freeway network

Direct cars and trucks off local roads and provide an alternative Yarra River road crossing

Connect people to jobs and services in the region and to Melbourne Airport

Build a dedicated busway between Doncaster Road and Hoddle Street

Include pedestrian and cycling projects to complement the project

The objectives are basically broad in their descriptions,

leaving room for interpretation.

Figure 1: Route options presented by NELA

Figure 2: Option A

Figure 3: Option C

3 Environment Effects Statement for North East Link Project – Traffic & Transport Submission by Erik Krauklis – Elizabeth Street, Bulleen 3105

Complete the ‘missing link’ in Melbourne’s orbital freeway network

Whilst all of the options connected the end of the current Metropolitan Ring Road M80, three fell

into the objective of completing the missing link of the orbital freeway network, these being B, C and

D. Option A, whilst it did connect the M80 with the Eastern Freeway it is a North – South link

between the two, not ‘orbital’ in a true sense, nor is it North East as the Link’s name implies. This is

clearly shown in all pictures. Option A also basically parallels the existing route of Greensborough

Highway, Rosanna Road and Bulleen Road which are some of the roads that require volumes of

traffic reduced and remove gridlock. In essence it does not ‘complete the missing link’ nor does it

value-add to the existing network to complete the orbital ring road concept.

Direct cars and trucks off local roads and provide an alternative Yarra River road crossing

In theory all options will remove traffic from existing roads but whether the data supplied by NELA at

the beginning of the project is questionable because in my opinion it did not canvass all geographic

areas that would have been impacted. Whilst there were traffic counts and modelling, I don’t think

that enough data was actually obtained from motorists in a far wider catchment that would have

used the options.

The catchment area is obvious for Option A because of its location and design. Basically it is a

straight north-south road that creates a connection from the M80 into the Eastern Freeway at

Bulleen in what can be termed a ‘T intersection’. The majority of traffic will be east – west from that

point to the Mullum Mullum Tunnels and onto EastLink or turn off at the Ringwood By-Pass. So for

that stretch of freeway there will be an additional high volume of traffic added to the already high

volume that uses the freeway. Whilst the plans in this option include an extensive expansion of the

existing freeway this adds a huge cost factor that may or may not ease gridlock because the majority

of expansion will not be in the area modelled with the increased high volumes of traffic. The

Mullum Mullum Tunnels are a physical choke point that can’t be expanded to accommodate the

increase. It does provide another crossing of the Yarra River via a tunnel.

The other options, B, C and D offer a new alignment for the link, which fits better with their locations

being north-east of the inner suburban areas that is planned for A. B still encroaches on the

Greensborough – Watsonia region so is not really desirable in that it still duplicates the existing

roadway to Lower Plenty Road prior to veering off eastwards.

4 Environment Effects Statement for North East Link Project – Traffic & Transport Submission by Erik Krauklis – Elizabeth Street, Bulleen 3105

D is another excellent option that moves current volumes a lot further east but at this point should

be planned for as a new extension to Option C which is the preferred route far and wide within the

community.

Option C moves traffic from the current end of the M80 eastwards towards Diamond Creek into

Eltham around the Ryans Road area before moving down through Warrandyte towards Doncaster

East – Donvale at Reynolds Road which is a pivotal point. It continues through to Eastlink on the east

side of the Mullum Mullum Tunnels creating an open area for designing the new roadway. This is

clearly depicted in Figure 4.

Benefits of Option C are:

Creation of new continuous flow freeway standard road network in the north – east region

Vast improvement of rural roads in Diamond Creek, Eltham and Warrandyte catering for

current high volumes of traffic

Vast improvement on early access to freeway at Reynolds Roads, Donvale from Lilydale

region commencing Maroondah Highway and in reverse from M80

Removes the need for high volumes of traffic to travel further into suburban areas and then

north – south again as per Option A.

Reduces traffic volumes on Eastern Freeway and surrounding networks such as Manningham

Road, Doncaster Road, Rosanna Road etc. because traffic is using the new network further

north

Creates alternative for traffic to/from Eastlink in a direct continuous route

Creates continuous tollway from Eastlink to M80 with the option to travel on Eastern

Freeway which is not tolled

Figure 4: Option C with possible interchanges potential road upgrades

5 Environment Effects Statement for North East Link Project – Traffic & Transport Submission by Erik Krauklis – Elizabeth Street, Bulleen 3105

Entire route with interchanges & local road improvements provides alternative route during

critical incidents along other routes currently used which Option A does not

Because Option A basically mirrors existing roads previously stated during critical incidents

blocking Option A traffic has to revert to these roads but Option C opens many alternate

routes without flooding local roads creating gridlock over many suburbs. Examples are

fatalities with road closure for 8 hours or more, multi-vehicle collisions, load spillages.

Option A does not have built in resilience.

Eliminates need for traffic to flow onto Eastern

Freeway which is already congested

Does not put extremely high volumes of extra

traffic through Mullum Mullum Tunnels

Does not become affected by closures of the

Mullum Mullum Tunnels during regular

maintenance. Refer to Figures 5 and 6

No requirement for extensive or expensive works

on the Eastern Freeway as suggested with far too

many segregated lanes

Best of all it creates excellent new networks for

community and emergency services in times of

critical incidents such as bushfires. This is a major positive factor in building NEL in this

region for not only positive traffic flow, community safety.

Figure 5: Mullum Mullum Tunnels Diversion Plan

Figure 6: Overview of road network from Melways

6 Environment Effects Statement for North East Link Project – Traffic & Transport Submission by Erik Krauklis – Elizabeth Street, Bulleen 3105

Reliance on crash data:

The released EES states that crash data has been collected

from VicRoads provided by VicPol statistics.

Sole reliance on these statistics is exceptionally erroneous

due to the alteration in collision reporting by VicPol many

years ago. VicPol reduced the need for members to report

inconsequential collisions (no injuries, no breach of road

rules, no contact by involved parties, police member

laziness etc) so this policy has led to a distortion of total

numbers.

Prior to that, in the mid-2000s I led a study into collision

data gathered from internal VicPol, VicRoads, TAC,

insurance companies and towing company attendances.

Surprisingly this showed a monumental shift in collision

times, locations and patterns. Due to this fresh data,

policing patterns changed as well as local road designs.

Unless data has been gathered from various sources figures

it is not accurate.

Stake Holder Engagement:

In this chart there is no mention of engagement with emergency services – VicPol, Ambulance Victoria, Metropolitan Fire Brigade, EPA and others. The design of the roadway plays an extremely important part in the work of all emergency services depending on the incident. From experience, designs of previous multi-laned freeways with hard lane segregations created massive issue for all services because their access was delayed, unable to take control of the scene, unable to divert moving traffic and unable to disperse stationary traffic. The extensive planned expansion of the Eastern Freeway creates such a problem within Option A. Also some of the interchange designs such as the Manningham Road design is far from suitable due

Figure 7: Crash data from EES

Figure 8: Stake Holder Engagement

7 Environment Effects Statement for North East Link Project – Traffic & Transport Submission by Erik Krauklis – Elizabeth Street, Bulleen 3105

to the planned over use of a small area to fit in the interchange. I have spoken with engineers at the public meetings and they stated that none of this had been taken into account in the design process. Not only does the North – East Link have to be free flowing to move the vast volumes of traffic, but it has to have built in resilience to all sorts of critical incidents on, off and in surrounding areas. All of this risk management has to be extensively workshopped by all agencies prior to final plans being approved. It truly is a life and death situation if planning for responses is not considered. It is something that cannot be ignored or added later. Manningham Road Interchange: To have a high volume of traffic exiting from the tunnel onto Bridge Street and Bulleen Road is fraught with danger due to the stop – start movement created by Traffic Control Signals (TCS) that are planned. As previously stated it is physically a small area in which to build so many entry – exit points. They need to be free flowing to reduce the requirement to stop or slow down too much. Rear end collisions in such tight circumstances are not avoidable and if they occur then there is massive traffic movement reduction in the interchange and back into the tunnel running lanes. This certainly can and will endanger through traffic. This interchange, if implemented, needs to be incorporated with the expansion of Bridge Street and Templestowe Road to allow for smooth flowing traffic coming in from slip lanes. North bound traffic entering the tunnels from Bulleen Road (south) should enter via a dedicated slip lane so it does not get caught up at any TCS. Traffic from Banksia Street, Templestowe Road and Manningham Road are all going to be gridlocked waiting to enter the tunnels to travel north. The current design is far too busy and tries to achieve far too much. It needs a complete re-think or a reduction in entry – exit points. As it is, it will just create gridlock in the immediate and surrounding area.

Figure 9: Manningham Road Interchange

8 Environment Effects Statement for North East Link Project – Traffic & Transport Submission by Erik Krauklis – Elizabeth Street, Bulleen 3105

Rosanna Road Lane Closure: Whilst Rosanna Road currently has extremely high volumes of mixed traffic, light and commercial vehicles, there will always be a demand for Rosanna Road as a higher use volume roadway. Once NEL is built there will be a reduction in volume and type of vehicle use, but there certainly should not be any lane closures along this road or any other. This will only frustrate users due to the reduced ability for unrestricted movement in both directions. Road or lane closures have to be taken into account for collisions, incidents, roadworks and a myriad of other reasons. It is never good policy to remove or restrict travel on existing roads. Will Option A be tolled?: As previously stated, Option A basically parallels the current road network. If Option A is TOLLED, then you have a relatively short tollway between two freeways which will be used by some motorists but certainly shunned by others, which I think, will be in the majority. It is not a viable option to place a tollway next to the existing road network that requires to be freed up because it is well known that tollways are usually avoided if they can be. With reduction in traffic on the existing network, it makes it more viable to use the existing. This will not occur with Option C because it will be a totally new tollway away from the freed up current network giving various new options for free flowing traffic, both light and commercial vehicles. The other benefit is that it will basically be a continuation of an already tolled freeway standard network which is Eastlink. This is demonstrated in Figures 1 & 4. There are many options for entry – exit with this option without having to resort to the congested current network. Expansion of Eastern Freeway: This proposed extensive expansion creates more traffic flow problems that it solves. Whilst it looks good on paper and perhaps in theory it is far too impractical for implementation. It is only a relatively short freeway which has two choke points – the Mullum Mullum Tunnels and the basic T intersection at Hoddle Street and then Alexandra Parade continuing through already gridlocked streets to Flemington and beyond. Too difficult for drivers to navigate the proposed design, too difficult for emergency services, busway only on north side so inconvenience to public transport users, removes options for light or heavy rail, stated that busway can be converted to rail but that then removes the busway, Bulleen Road entry – exit should be completed by tunnel, unnecessary removal of sporting fields, parklands.

Figure 10: Rosanna Road Closure

9 Environment Effects Statement for North East Link Project – Traffic & Transport Submission by Erik Krauklis – Elizabeth Street, Bulleen 3105

Summary: In short, the selection of Option A for the North East Link has been flawed and biased from the start. I state this because having spoken to many NELA employees at their open displays, they stated that the government created NELA to take the heat off them because they wanted to implement the grandiose plan of Option A no other option was on the table. Bold statement, but it has also been stated by the NELA engineers amongst others that Option C was always the far better option to solve the traffic problems. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence floating around regards what I have stated. As stated, Option A does not bring a solution to the table because you are building a tollway between to freeways that are already at high capacity. It is ridiculous to run the NEL into the Eastern Freeway at Bulleen because no amount of expensive expansion will solve traffic flow. It needs to be upgraded, but this is not the solution, plus it negates any inclusion of better public transport options. The planned busway is not viable, desirable because it should be taken all the way to Westfield to fit in with a new terminal. The best solution is Option C, and that is what I recommend to the panel. The full positive aspects of this route have not been explored which they should before any further work on Option A continues. I refer you to my above comments.