The Age: Napthine’s east-west tunnel, it’s just not cricket (August 12, 2013) Ross McMullin

Creating a bigger road to fix congestion is like loosening your belt to fix obesity.

The bewildering decision that Australian batsman Usman Khawaja endured at Old Trafford recently has been universally condemned. It was denounced by cricketers around the world, Kevin Rudd castigated it, and Cricket Australia even lodged a formal protest. The Khawaja dismissal was mystifying because the evidence the third umpire examined pointed so clearly to the opposite conclusion. It was incomprehensible.

In fact, the Khawaja verdict was the worst decision since – well, since another shocker earlier this year. The decision to embark on an expensive east-west freeway tunnel remains similarly mystifying.

Denis Napthine claims that drivers frustrated by traffic gridlock on the Eastern Freeway will welcome his tunnel. This is absurd – 80 per cent of the traffic coming off the freeway doesn’t head west, it turns south into similarly clogged Hoddle Street. As freeway users know, Napthine is spouting nonsense. It’s pretty simple. If you watch where the ball went, you know Khawaja wasn’t out. If you watch where the cars go, you know the east-west tunnel won’t fix Eastern Freeway congestion.

Moreover, it’s a colossal waste of money and the return on this immense outlay will be meagre. Continue Reading…