FRUSTRATED Footscray and Yarraville residents will take their truck traffic message to the streets by blockading Shepherd Bridge.
The Maribyrnong Truck Action Group will close down Shepherd Bridge in a protest from 8am on March 19, demanding the state government fast-track work on linking the port with the West Gate Freeway.
The ‘Deliver Us From Diesel’ protest was rescheduled from December due to storms.
It will feature giant puppets, a 40-piece band and a mass sing-along by protesters who want ramps built to and from the West Gate Bridge to link the West Gate Freeway to the port.
Residents want to take 10,000 trucks a day off local streets suffering under Melbourne’s worst diesel pollution.
MTAG president Sam McArthur says the protest message is that enough is enough.
“This is about the health and well-being of people living in the area, especially our children.
“We are being expected to live in a toxic environment,” Ms McArthur said.
The health impacts from trucks may be investigated at a parliamentary committee if a Greens motion, due to be put to a vote next week, is passed.
An economy and infrastructure standing committee will be asked to inquire, consider and report on air pollution, crashes, road damage and traffic congestion due to freight trucks.
It will also look at “alternatives for moving the growing freight task”.
Western Metropolitan upper house MP Colleen Hartland wants the committee to investigate trucking alternatives for freight movement, like rail.
But freight operators’ peak body the Victorian Transport Association has slammed the call. Chief executive Neil Chambers said trucks were vital for moving freight. “You can never remove trucks from the network because trucks move freight the last mile.”
The state government is due to release its Victorian freight and logistics plan early this year.
—Benjamin Millar with Dan Moss
