East West Tunnel

[crashlander]

One of the problems with our transport infrastructure is that it's not integrated.

Very true. And very clear when you trying to get away from the footy after a game.

A rail line should have been built down the middle of the Eastern Freeway and another should have gone in on  the Tullamarine.  It's a scandal that we don't have a train servicing Melbourne Airport'

I am not sure a train line down the middle of the freeway is a good idea, but to have no train line going directly from the airport to the city is insane.

Of course, the radial nature of our rail system needs to be addressed with suburban interchanges getting people to their destinations without going through the CBD.  Getting heavy vehicles off the road wouldn't go astray but it all costs money and Aussie politicians are terrified of raising taxes, or even not reducing current taxes.

The radial system is fine, as long as there are some rings to go around the outside. There never has been. That rail cannot compete with road, even in the middle of the city, is a sever design deficiency.

Melbourne is not the only city to suffer traffic chaos when something goes wrong.  I was heading north out of Paris a couple of years ago and there was a truck fire on the inbound lane.  The traffic was banked up for 21kms and there were hundreds of vehicles still heading towards the jam.

Paris worked very well for a long while, with its wider streets and boulevards and reasonable public transport system. But it was not designed for the number of people it has now. Their freeway system, with toll booths, is a nightmare. The population simply expanded far quicker than the ideas of how to deal with it. And there is no Napoleon III to force the people of Paris to do what is necessary.

One of the dubious advantages of losing a really big war is the ability to redesign your cities from the rubble. Germany experienced that. They also have a LOT of cities instead of a lot of megalopolises. Only Berlin (which didn't have a choice) and München have grown to the point where their infrastructure is badly stressed. The other cities are small enough and concentrated enough for a decent public transport system and a lot of good road design to make them work.

Anyone for nuking Melbourne and Sydney back to the stone age?