Fix missing link

WHY would a major project such as the Eastlink, or Scoresby Freeway as we initially came to know it during the toll debate, not have a direct link from Casey to the Mornington Peninsula?
One reason I heard during a Casey Business Development Group breakfast last year was that it was physically impossible to configure the offramp connection.
I thought this was rot and the mood I perceived from others at the breakfast confirmed my view.
People have complained to me about the fact that Eastlink was to be built without an interchange allowing traffic travelling toward the city to move on to the Eastlink toward Mornington.
But they usually speak with an air of ‘I suppose we can’t do much about it anyway’.
So people will take the slow road if they want to drive from the southeastern suburbs to the Mornington Peninsula and many do.
My view is that people can and must do something about this.
Casey Council will start with a letter to the Southern and Integrated Transport Authority (SEITA) expressing its concerns.
The council will also raise the matter with SEITA representatives during a meeting in Casey next month.
But that’s not enough; the voice of the people is needed to support the council lobby.
Organisations such as the CBDG, Berwick Village Chamber of Commerce, Shire of Cardinia, South Eastern Australian Transport Strategy (SEATS), even Monash University, Chisholm Institute, and many individuals need to be heard.
And don’t forget that VicRoads built the Monash Freeway without a turn back into Casey for vehicles travelling from the Peninsula and wanting access to Casey.
This is not only important from a traffic movement, convenience and safety aspect, but it is a thumbing of the nose at people living in the eastern region.
They are two vital and necessary links.
It is about time those responsible for building the freeway came up with a really plausible explanation or, better still, a slip lane favouring the City of Casey and areas beyond.
Also, is that toll debate over, because failing to provide this vital component is one way to have it reactivated.