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Mrs HMS
28-06-2008, 03:01 PM
Well Eastlink opens in Melbourne tomorrow....the Freeway you have when you don't get it for free! Still I think what I save in petrol (especially at the current prices) will more than cover the cost of the toll.

First 4 weeks are toll free which is a bonus.

Here are the details about the fixed speed cameras along Eastlink

WELLINGTON ROAD ROWVILLE OVERPASS BRIDGE BOTH DIRECTIONS 6 CAMERAS 3 IN EACH DIRECTION.

These camera's are mounted high up in the honeycomb design of the underbelly and special attention has been given that they not be seen from either direction.


GREENS ROAD DANDENONG OVERPASS BRIDGE BOTH DIRECTIONS 6 CAMERAS 3 IN EACH DIRECTION.

Conditions of installation same as above.


EASTLINK TUNNEL RINGWOOD 12 CAMERAS 6 EACH SIDE.

These cameras are located at station box B22 and can move on special slide rails that allow them to be moved forward or backwards between station Box B22 and B35.

FRANKSTON FREEWAY TO GREENS ROAD OVERPASS DISTANCE 17 STRAIGHT KMS. (IDEAL DRAG STRIP)

This area is of major concern for the State Government, at this stage no legislation has been passed for the installation of cameras in either direction until you hit the Green Rd Bridge. Signs have been erected along this 17km strip that indicate 'Speed cameras operate in this area' in both directions but nothing is operating. The Government does not want to project itself as an immediate cash cow and as a result will not introduce them until next year at this stage.
They have placed into the road when the bitumen was poured, electronic trackers which are a new system of detection that works like the ones on the Geelong Freeway that measure you by Time Vs Speed.These are still being tested and measured for accuracy and efficiency.

It is possible that random mobile units may be deployed or hand held speed guns used in this zone as it is nick named the Dandy Dragstrip by the Eastlink workers.


So...who's going to use it? Who's going to boycott it?

geejay
28-06-2008, 05:55 PM
we will be using it.

Bgs
28-06-2008, 06:17 PM
question from the Queenslanders why would you boycott it ?

Mrs HMS
28-06-2008, 06:50 PM
It was never supposed to be a tollway. Our previous labour state government decided to do this, losing a considerable amount of federal funding in the process. The federal government only offered the $$ on the proviso that the road was untolled.

There are some people who are extremely ticked off about this. My sister being one of them and despite the fact that see lives in Frankston and it would make it an almost non-stop journey to my place from hers, I can't get her to understand that she is going to save far more than the $3 it's going to cost her in tolls. For her it's the principle.

geoff
28-06-2008, 07:08 PM
yes yes joanne u are so right ..why pay for something thats supposed to be free...the story out in the engineering areana is what happens to the end thats franston and the eastern freeway....major jams ...just like our other toll way ...monash a joke

m287j
29-06-2008, 08:47 AM
Good to see it has opened ahead of timetable. I do remember when i was living in Melbourne all the dramas about the tolls.

It is a road Melbourne needs and it would have been handy for me i was still in Melbourne, i used to live in North Ringwood.

Bgs
29-06-2008, 02:42 PM
When I was reading about all the cameras in the first post I was thinking knowing all that you would have to be insane to speed on that road, but it didn't take someone long to get fined lol

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23940907-2862,00.html


UST hours after the opening of Melbourne's newest roadway, police have already issued their first speeding ticket.
An 18-year-old P-plater was caught travelling at 135 km/h in a 100 km/h zone along EastLink overnight.

Victoria Police say the Mount Martha man was speeding along the stretch of road between the Princes Highway and Cheltenham Road in Dandenong.

The driver was given a $292 on-the-spot fine, four demerit points and a one-month licence suspension.

The roadway, which links Mitcham and Frankston in the city's east, was open in stages overnight. The entire roadway was expected to be accessible from 8am (AEST) today.

Police will conduct Operation Eastlinker for at least the next fortnight, targeting speed and other traffic offences.

Islandhead
29-06-2008, 02:51 PM
I have just used it and am far from impressed.

We went from ringwood to the eastern freeway... Traffic was at a crawling pace on the way there until the freeway (i'm guessing because it is the first day and also it is free at the moment)

On the way back as we came through the mullum mullum tunnel traffic was again crawling as it said the right hand lane is closed through the tunnel. As we entered the tunnel eastlink took over our radio and advised us that the right hand lane was closed and the speed limit was now 60kmh. No accident or reason for closure... all me and my wife can think of is that we have been guinea pigs for their traffic control system... adding another 15 mins to our journey... I feel dirty!! ;)

Can't see me using it again, will be quicker to go down maroondah highway and get on eastern freeway at springvale as normal.

Hope other people have had better experiences :p

chatza
29-06-2008, 06:36 PM
Im with island head on this went through at 11am and wished i went the long way round hopefully it works better i allso would use the ringwood to eastern part as im in chirnside park and often head over to doncaster.

administrator
29-06-2008, 08:46 PM
Lets give the road a chance .

Lets keep reporting on it over the next year and lets see what happens

Better to have it available than not and it is a user pays system .

Mrs HMS
29-06-2008, 09:18 PM
I will be using it peak hour tomorrow to and from work...Ringwood Bypass to Chandler Hwy and back again.

I hope it's better then...school holiday peak hour traffic might be a bonus too.

Mrs HMS
30-06-2008, 07:59 AM
Well I LOVE it. Just got to work 20 minutes faster than usual. No traffic problems, no lanes closed in the tunnel.

I did notice that, considering it's school holidays, the Eastern was carrying the same level of traffic it does during non-holiday periods. Will wait and see what happens after the novelty wears off and the tolls start.

Lots more trucks on the Eastern today - wonder if the Monash users noticed a reduction in the heavy vehicle traffic.

geejay
30-06-2008, 05:47 PM
5.30 pm have come up the monash from chadstone onto the eastlink heading to doncaster,all went well,slowed down at malba tunnel to 60-80,lots of traffic going down east link towards frankston and heading to the city.

Mrs HMS
03-08-2009, 08:35 PM
Well I just got my quarterly Breeze tag statement and notice something amiss....as at 1 July 2009 the tolls seem to have increased.

It was costing me $2.07 to use the tunnel in to work and another $2.07 on the way home but this seems to have increased to $2.15.

Did I miss the notification that this was going to happen? Has anyone heard about this?

My other freqent trip - to the inlaws which involves the tunnel to High Street Rd has increased from $3.27 to $3.39.

People are going to be dirty on the tolls if they increase annually. I wondered why the huge signs on the gantries that used to tell people how much that toll point cost all seemed to disappear recently.

ian
03-08-2009, 10:42 PM
joanne sorry but annual price rises are the go eastlnk (www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25587457-661,00.html)