Not so for residents of the western suburbs, particularly the inner-west. Even in streets that are residential (and have always been so), the juggernauts go through constantly.

So it’s easy to understand why the Eddington report’s Truck Action Plan was greeted with acclaim. It says they’ll get trucks off residential streets. Sounds great, doesn’t it.

Well, it is, and it isn’t. The off-ramp on the Westgate to give trucks access into the port without going down Francis Street, for instance, sounds extremely logical. Shame an on-ramp can’t be provided too, but evidently the gradients would be too steep.

But another part of the plan involves road widening along Ashley Street and Ballarat Road, and flagging that as a truck route in and out of the port.

Some of Ashley Street is industrial, and you can see along there that VicRoads have obviously been planning this for a while. Much of the street has plenty of space for widening.

But Ballarat Road though is a completely different story. Most of it is residential. Throw in some churches, shops, a couple of new apartment blocks, and heritage elm trees… it’s going to get messy. Not that VicRoads hasn’t been planning ahead here too — around Droop and Gordon Sts, it’s very apparent that they’ve already bought a number of properties, ripe for flattening (if they haven’t been already).

(pic: whereis.com)

Cunningly, VicRoads say they’re not currently buying land for this. At least, not in response to the Eddington report. Of course not! They can’t respond to the Eddington report until the government says they’ll go ahead with that part of it. Besides, some of it is already bought!

So anyway, not all of the Truck Action Plan sounds so good anymore. It’d be great to get trucks out of residential areas, but not so much use moving them to other residential areas. All credit to Yarraville-based MTAG, who seem to recognise this.

We all know widening the road will lead to more traffic. Not just truck traffic, traffic in general. (OK, maybe we don’t all know this. The Premier seems to think motorways are actually environmentally friendly!)

How about spending some money on getting more freight onto rail, instead? Y’know, like, in line with the government’s goal of 30% of port freight on rail by 2010. (Currently: 15%, and dropping!) Most freight heading out of Melbourne would be more efficiently sent by rail. Even local Melbourne freight would benefit if trains took it from the port to localised freight hubs (as has been proposed in some circles) in industrial areas like Dandenong, Altona and Somerton.

And if in the longer term the main port is moved to Hastings, won’t most of the trucks go with it?

Most Australian phone numbers come in two varieties:

A local number, eg 7010 5105. (Let’s ignore the two digit area code for now; it’s not usually relevant in voice mails).

Or a mobile number, eg 0491 570 156.

How I’ve written them above is pretty much the standard, and that’s how I expect them to be quoted verbally. It’s no accident — with local numbers, the first four digits determines the phone exchange.

So I have enormous difficulties when someone decides to vary that, which often happens if they decide that part of the number repeats, so they should emphasise that, for instance 70 105 105. Or quoting a mobile number like a landline: 04 9157 0156. Something in my brain doesn’t scan the verbal input properly, and I have to hear it again to be sure I’ve written it down right.

It’s doubly difficult if in a voice mail they only say it once, and too quickly.

Please, stick to the formula.

I love the idea of taking the whole family out for a ride, and as oil prices continue to climb, seeing lots of other people taking up cycling too. If it happens in a big way, the roads could be less busy, the air less polluted, and people would be fitter.

And then I see reports like this: some moron in a car deciding he doesn’t like being delayed by a group of cyclists, deliberately intimidating them, and then causing an accident before driving off.

There’s just no getting around the fact that you’re vulnerable on a bike. And one dickhead who doesn’t like the look of you can wipe you out in a second.

Call me a wimp if you like, but while I do enjoy recreational cycling, I continue to prefer — most of the time — walking, PT and, when I have to, driving.

Source: Australian Transport Safety Bureau. Figures also included pedestrian fatalities, but I figure that’s skewed as pedestrian trips are almost always much shorter than those by mechanical transport. Be nice to find some more up-to-date Australian figures, too — these are from the 80s. My Googling didn’t find anything better.

Update 8am Friday: James makes a good point — wouldn’t per travelling hour be a fairer comparison? Yep, here it is. Note cycling is about as safe as car driving in these terms.

I figure I can give at least double that to Burma cyclone disaster relief.

Donations in Australia can be made through:

• Care Australia
• Red Cross
• Save The Children
• Caritas

There’s probably others; these are the first four I found. For those overseas, Google has a page for donations to Unicef and Direct Relief — this appears to work for all countries, not just the US.

Meanwhile, check this restaurant in North Richmond. I’ll have to try eating there the next time I want some Aussie-Indian-Chinese. It’s trendy, yet traditional.