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Help save Mt Victoria & Mt York from superhighway 12-Nov-2009 At 6:03:47 PM JamesMc

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Here's a different perspective. (And it comes from an environmental engineer in the road business.)

The most dysfunctional roads we have in Australia are the busy arterials like the GWH through Mt Vic. Getting traffic off arterials and onto proper freeways is a GOOD THING though it costs a lot of money. Safety is improved. Anything that reduces stopping and starting or reduces steepness of the road will reduce pollution. Here in Victoria, houses adjacent to freeways are generally exposed to about ten decibels less traffic noise than those adjacent to busy arterials due to decent noise barriers. I presume an even greater improvement would result in NSW because of the lower noise targets there, but I could be wrong. Anything that gets the truck traffic out of Mt Vic township is going to make it a more pleasant town. Let's face it, the GWH is bloody awful where it drops down past Mt Vic Pass.

Population is growing everywhere, and the traffic is inevitably going to grow too. Don't think about how bad the road through Mt Vic is now, think about how it will be in ten years time with twenty percent more traffic.

Having said that, a viaduct up to 110 m high seems a bit over the top. (For comparison, the road level at the top of the Westgate Bridge is only 60 m.)

Don't argue that the road shouldn't be upgraded; argue that the tunnel option should be adopted.

JamesMc