A MOOTED expansion of Webb Dock and scuttling of a plan to move automotive shipping to Geelong will clog residential streets with trucks, the state opposition says.
The state government is reportedly set to ditch plans to move automotive shipping from the Port of Melbourne to Geelong.
The proposal would have made land available close to the port and taken the load off truck traffic on the West Gate Bridge.
The port handled 429,000 cars in 2010: 316,500 imports and 112,500 exports. The government is also due to release its review of expanding container capacity at the port.
Opposition ports spokesman Tim Pallas said he expected the report to recommend Webb Dock be expanded with capacity for one-million containers.
“The City of Maribyrnong has 21,000 truck movements a day. Moving more activity to Webb Dock will place an increasing burden on the roads in the surrounding
residential areas.” He said the time had come for the government to release a traffic management plan and a commitment to upgrade arterial roads to stop the trucks clogging residential streets.
In response to a question from Williamstown MP Wade Noonan about reviewing truck curfews a decade after they were introduced, Transport Minister Terry Mulder said:
“There is going to be an increase in the number of trucks; there’s no doubt about that. To see that, we have only to have a look at some of the predictions out in relation to the Port of Melbourne.”
Mr Noonan called on the government to reinstate the plan for a truck route linking Hyde Street with the West Gate Freeway, bypassing residential areas in Yarraville.
Ports Minister Denis Napthine said the government was investigating short- to mid-term solutions to address growing container capacity including the development of the Port of Hastings as Victoria’s second container port.
He said the industry had raised concerns about the relocation of automotive shipping to Geelong including the availability of suitable land and issues with the shipping channel.
