In the past, it's taken taken me an hour to travel from Wantirna to Dandenong.

By the time I get to my destination, I'm usually fuming, having watched the petrol gauge dip and barely getting above 50kmh.

The stop-start drive was what I expected when I took to the road yesterday. But my contempt for the road took a battering when the trip turned out to be remarkably surprising.

The right-hand turn from the office car park onto Mountain Highway was the most difficult part of the trip. At 7.38, it took two minutes to get on the road.

I wound my way from the office to Stud Road via Scoresby Road. While it was busy, traffic flowed.

Thirteen minutes later, I turned left onto Stud Road and was faced with an unusual view - in front lay a stretch of road with barely a car in sight both ways.

School holidays had taken much of the traffic from the road, but even during past holiday periods I'd never seen it this quiet at peak hour.

My cynicism remained - surely traffic at the Stud and Wellington roads intersection would be congested. Last time I sat there at 7.30am, it took three sets of traffic lights to get through. But no, I sailed straight through.

Twenty-four minutes later I cruised up the hill to the Stud and Heatherton roads intersection.

Again, I was just five cars from the lights and travelled through within seconds of them turning green.

I expected the usual traffic jams in Dandenong, where it can take 10 minutes to crawl 500metres, but the trip was smooth.

Exactly 34 minutes later I was sitting in the car park at my destination in Dandenong South.

There's no doubt EastLink took much of the traffic off the road.

The true test will be in a month when tolls are introduced. Will residents become addicted to the amount of time saved on the road, or turn back to Stud Road?

Emma Tyner