The VR plan was killed because (a) it was far too costly (all that tunnel) and (b) the MMTB put up a light rail project which would
do a better job at a far lower cost. The Tram project did not win because it was heavy rail or nothing. It was nothing.

The tram project started at Spencer Street, and had a unidirectional loop along Bourke and Collins Streets. The single track lines
joined at Spring Street, then up Nicholson Street to Alexandra Parade. It turned east there, and ran along the median of
Alexandra Parade and onto the median of the Eastern Freeway, intersecting tram routes at Brunswick Street and Smith Street. After
Bulleen Road it would have crossed by bridge onto the reserve on the north side of the road which it would have followed to
Doncaster Road, and then east to Doncaster Shopping town - as it then was. There were possible alternatives, one of which would
have proceeded via a large one way routing - IMMSMC via the then uncompleted section of the eastern freeway and back up via Elgar
Road, another would have proceeded up High Street towards Lower Templestowe, and a third would have continued along Doncaster Road
towards, I think, Donvale, which at that time was out in the sticks.

The B1 class trams were built for this extension - the booklet shows one of them - there is virtually no difference between what was
in the booklet and as built.

Overhead in the streets covered by the route was to be converted for dual pole and pan use. All ticketing was to be off tram and
they were to be OMO. There were a few other additions, which I have forgotten for the time being and cannot at the mo find my copy
of the book.

My preference would have been to leave the reserve at Bulleen Road, and head up Thompsons Road, Manningham Road and back down
Williamsons Road to Shopping town. The trams would have been in the centre of the road, with stops only at Bulleen Road, the
intersections of Thompsons and Manningham, Manningham and High Street, and at Shopping town. In between the trams would be at full
road speed - and with a bit of discouragement cars would have been out of the way - no right turns permitted, and the narrow median
unbroken except at those major intersections, which would have been interchange points for the bus services radiating to Templestowe
and Whoop-whoop.

The VR route was ludicrous, in that it carefully avoided the major destination origination point of Shoppingtown. As far as I can
make out, there are 10 bus routes that use the Shoppingtown bus station. Other of course possibly by pass this but the map is not
as good as the Sydney bus map.

Regards

Dudley Horscroft
----- Original Message -----
From: "prescottt@ymail.com [TramsDownUnder]" TramsDownUnder@...>
To: TramsDownUnder@...>
Sent: Saturday, March 18, 2017 6:22 PM
Subject: RE: [TramsDownUnder] Re: FW: snippets, Sat.18.3.17

> Thanks folks for that information. There are no markings of the bus lanes visible from the air, but good to know they're there.

>

> Glad to hear that the Baldwin North tram extension is progressing really well. I'd hang on to that letter from Hamer Bill, you

> need to hold politicians to their promises no matter what happens to them in the intervening years ;)

>

> Tony P

>

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> Posted by:prescottt@...

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