A Report to Bidders for NEL
The NEL CTDG – Walking & Cycling produced a comprehensive report on many walking and cycling needs identified, but not included in the Reference Design.
The NEL Community & Stakeholder Relations personnel who coordinated the CTDG advised that such a report was a way for Reference Design deficiencies to be made known to the bidders, and that the competitive process would inevitably lead to some or all of the recommendations being adopted. CTDG members would have far preferred the Reference Design to have included most of these recommendations.
Members of the Group compiled a comprehensive report totally independently, and NEL facilitated its final layout and preparation.
Scroll through and read the report below.
Or click here to download: Walking & cycling report to bidders
North East Link Strategic Bike and Walking Routes
We need to get this right before it’s set in concrete!
WATAG is represented on the NEL Community Technical Discussion Group (CTDG) – walking & cycling. The next meeting of this group will discuss “Lessons Learnt” from Victorian, interstate and overseas projects, and community values such as safety, privacy, user interaction and accessibility (or lack of it).
Previous experience in Blackburn … (Click here to read the full article – which includes presentations from Boroondara BUG and WATAG)
Has the Concrete already been Ordered?
Unfortunately there is a grave danger that the concrete truck has already been ordered.
What promised to be a collaborative community consultation is steadily proving to be just another PR job (more cleverly executed than other recent examples), where participants are led to believe that community input can actually make a difference. Whereas is seems that the reality is that the plans are virtually already decided, and there is very little (if any) scope to include walking and cycling infrastructure that will make a substantial difference to the community.
WATAG has representatives on the NEL Community Technical Discussion Group – Walking & Cycling (CTDG) together with Boroondara Bug, Institute of Traffic Engineers, adjacent Councils, and other concerned community groups in the area.
At a recent CTDG meeting, a majority of community representatives spoke to the need to do more for Active Transport. But NEL representatives made it very clear that “this is a ROAD Project” and that the only requirement in relation to Active Transport was “not to make things worse”.
It seems that changing any of the design requirements to ensure that Active Transport will get the same kind of first class result that motorists can expect, is totally wishful thinking. Two community representatives left the meeting early out of frustration…
Click here to read the full story.
How might the parks on Eastlink look after NEL
The Koonung Wetlands will be swamped by bitumen!
A further look at the information NELA has released (northeastlink.vic.gov.au) the latest information on the NEL is disturbing
The effect on open space in at the Koonung Wetlands – as depicted by the NEL artist – shows a massive road consuming a LOT of bushy parkland. Overlaying this impression onto a Google Map photo, gives the “before and after” photos shown below.
Before
After
NELA simply comments on the lovely new pedestrian and cycling bridge!
Thumbs down in Whitehorse for NEL
Opposition to NEL at Council Forum
The full-house audience was decidedly worried about the effect of the proposed additions to the Eastern Freeway in Whitehorse as a result of the proposed North East Link (NEL) and the adverse impact on live-ability and loss of parkland at a Whitehorse City Council Forum on Tuesday 11th September 2018. WATAG was represented on the panel of five speakers.
The WATAG presentation included these slides 
The WATAG presentation also spoke to the additional impact of NEL traffic on an already compromised future for Active Transport and traffic flows around the Box Hill area when the high-rise Metropolitan Activity Centre really takes off in the immediate future.
The following two links from the NEL show their spin on the project. Big dollars have been spent on artist’s impressions and top-of-the-line video representations and brochure production. It would be good to see equally high-end dollars allocated for Active Transport too. The aim should be for a top-of-the-range Active Transport outcome – at least as good as the convenience and safety outlook for cars and trucks.
http://nelprojectmap.u-c.com.au/NELprojectmap_v03/index.html
https://s23705.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/NELP-fact-sheet.pdf
Whitehorse Active Transport Action Group Inc. 