Jennifer Pittorino
Air quality in Maribyrnong has long been an issue, one which local community group Maribyrnong Truck Action Group (MTAG) has been at the forefront of tackling.
Although the issue is not new, MTAG fights every day like it is, this week releasing a petition calling on the state government to roll out electronic monitoring and enforcement for truck operators breaking weekend curfews.
The petition is a result of recent research undertaken by MTAG. On Sunday, April 7, MTAG monitored truck movements on Francis Street , Yarraville.
In just two hours, MTAG captured video footage of 95 container trucks ignoring the weekend truck curfew which has been in place for more than 15 years.
Restrictions ban trucks from 8pm until 6am Monday to Saturday and from 1pm on Saturday until 6am on Monday.
MTAG president Martin Wurt conducted the research in preparation for the opening of the new West Gate Tunnel which the state government promised would remove 9,000 trucks per day from local roads.
The weekend truck curfew operates on three roads, Francis Street, Somerville Road and Moore Street. A curfew has been promised on an additional three roads, Buckley Street, Blackshaws Road and Hudson Road.
“These truck curfews were put in place years ago when the community first raised concerns about the amount of trucks on local roads,” Mr Wurt said.
“The government said they were going to implement traffic monitoring cameras to monitor the curfews, but this is just a trial.”
Now years later, Mr Wurt is concerned that the trial will not be ready for the opening of the tunnel at the end of 2025.
“They’re nowhere near being ready for those cameras to be able to issue fines and really make a difference,” he said.
“Our understanding is they need millions to implement this program.
“So we are really concerned that if the funding is not in this May’s budget, then the cameras are not going to be ready for day one of the West Gate Tunnel Project opening.
“And the promises made to us about getting trucks off local roads will be a hollow promise.”
Money is at the forefront of concerns for MTAG, with Mr Wurt saying the $161 fine is not much of an incentive to keep truck operators from breaking the curfew.
“The penalty at the moment is $161, which is less than the fine normal commuters get if they run red lights.
“Instead truck drivers are going to have to pay $27 every time they use that tunnel which is going to be a huge cost on them.
“So there will be even more pressure on those truck drivers who are already struggling to make a decent living to ignore the curfews and just keep using our residential streets.”
Mr Wurt believes that unless the government can implement proper electronic monitoring, the curfews will be ineffectual.
“We can see with the current situation that it’s a broken system, where truck drivers have been able to ignore those curfews for months and months and months without any consequences.
“In the last six months we have been hearing from the community that trucks are constantly breaking curfew,” he said.
“These long-established curfews operate from 1pm on Saturday until 6am on Monday, yet hundreds of trucks continue to run on the street overnight and throughout the weekend, with no attempt to enforce the ban.”
A NHVR spokesperson said the NHVR has an active compliance and enforcement approach of mobile patrols in the inner-west curfew zones.
“We are currently patrolling the curfew zones seven days a week,“ they said.
“We will continue to actively patrol these curfew zones to ensure operators and drivers obey the current curfews and restrictions. Any heavy vehicle directly identified and intercepted breaking curfews will be subjected to appropriate enforcement actions.“
A state government spokesperson said the government is trialling a range of measures to inform the delivery of truck bans when the West Gate Tunnel opens next year.
“This includes running an innovative heavy vehicle monitoring camera trial, installing truck advisory signs that make restrictions clearer, and a simple guide published in six languages to inform truck drivers of restrictions, penalties will apply to motorists that travel during curfew hours.”
Details: www.change.org/p/truck-curfew-monitoring-must-be-electronic-on-promised-24-7-bans
