Re: Yarra Trams given to Metrolink

["Michael Walker" <walker@hotkey.net.au>]

>It's not an extra block, it's a couple of kilometres.


Perhaps I should have described it as a city block, from major road to major
road. In this case it is 1.2km from Regent Street to Henty Street and 250m
from Henty Street to Edwardes Street. Not allowing for tolerance errors in
the tripmeter on my Toyota.
         Even if the tram line were extended, it would only be extended to
Henty Street because of the roundabout there and the fact that the road b/w
Henty and Edwardes Streets is relatively sharply curved and downhill causing
problems parking trams and visibility problems. The 1.2km walk isn't so long
you need to spend limited transport dollars so a few people can get to the
lake. If you're that lazy or have limited mobility, the 553 goes from the
tram terminus to the lake anyway and some trips go right around the lake
even.

>And would it be economic to extend the 57 to Avondale Heights, or should
>it be cut back to the Westland Shopping Centre? I would run the 82 up
>Rosamund Raod from Raleigh Street to go past the shopping centre... the
>tracks parallel to Wests Road are in a shocking state and need
>replacement, so there would be no great extra cost, and the tram would
>run past a traffic generator rather than through a wasteland. If there
>is no point extending the 57, I would cut it back and turn it into
>Rasamund Rd and terminate it at the shopping centre.


The long term plan (read - not in my lifetime or unless Keilor becomes a
swinging electorate) is to extend the 57 along where the 406 (?) bus goes
now to Avondale Heights.There's probably not a lot of justification for
cutting it short to Highpoint West Shopping Centre given it runs about 5
minutes walk from the centre and that would condemn the line never to be
extended again anyway.

The 82 should have been deviated years ago. I guess in the era of Munitions
Factories and before shopping centres the route made a lot of sense,
nowadays for the relatively small cost of deviating past a major traffic
generator, it seems silly not to. Given we all seem to be dreaming at the
moment, we could allocate the Melbourne Bus Link route past Footscray
station to Yarraville to Swanston Trams and rebuild some of the old
Footscray tram system. The route comes up for contract in about 7-10 years I
presume so that would be long enough for National Express to save up for it
and undercut the bus.