By Benjamin Millar
Inner-west truck traffic could be halved within five years with plans for a new $5 billion freeway and tunnel beneath Yarraville.
The state government last Thursday confirmed it is considering a proposal by Transurban to deliver another major river crossing to connect the West Gate Freeway to the port, city and City Link.
The Western Distributor dramatically expands the previously announced
$680 million Westgate Distributor and would not require demolishing Yarraville homes or ripping up Spotswood sports fields.
The plan includes twin three-lane tunnels from the West Gate Freeway-Williamstown Road junction to the Whitehall Street-Somerville Road intersection, as well as an elevated road crossing the Maribyrnong River and two extra lanes each way on the West Gate Freeway from the M80 Ring Road.
Tunnel tolls for cars would be about $3, while trucks would pay about $13.
Early works could begin this year and the project could be completed by late 2020.
Transurban chief executive Scott Charlton said the concept, submitted to the state government earlier this year under Victoria’s new
Market-led Proposals interim guideline, would remove half the trucks from inner-west residential streets and return $1.60 for every $1 spent.
Premier Daniel Andrews said the new plan was being assessed by the Department of Treasury and Finance and reviewed by external consultants
Treasurer Tim Pallas said rigorous guidelines meant the proposal would be properly and fairly assessed.
But shadow treasurer Michael O’Brien questioned why motorists would pay a toll when they could take the West Gate Bridge for free, while Maribyrnong Truck Action Group secretary Martin Wurt called for more information on tunnel filtration and warned the project would be useless without strict truck bans on residential streets.
“The issue around a $13 toll for trucks is we already have trucks avoiding the tolls on the Bolte Bridge,” Mr Wurt said.
The $40 million first stage of the West Gate Distributor project, including strengthening and widening of Footscray’s Shepherd Bridge and the widening of Moreland Street, will progress regardless of whether the new Western Distributor project goes ahead.
