CRAIG Langdon has kept his promise to voters to resign if a freeway through Heidelberg became Victorian Labor policy (”Freeway dissenter urges referendum”, The Age, 26/8). But how awkward that he’s left it until three months before the election rather than standing down in 2008 when plans were announced.
But an MP’s promise has proved worthless against the determination of the Bracks and Brumby governments to pursue 1950s solutions to 21st-century transport problems.
Just what the people of Ivanhoe will get from a north-east link is unclear. EastLink hasn’t done anything to reduce traffic on Stud Road as the government and road lobby promised.
And as long as we go on expanding capacity for cars, Rosanna Road and Banksia Street will suffer maddening congestion whether we build a north-east link or not. Meanwhile, the link would become a rat-run for trucks from Dandenong avoiding CityLink tolls.
Tony Morton, secretary, Public Transport Users Association, Melbourne