TRAFFIC jams choking western suburbs roads will worsen without work beginning on an urgent solution, according to a new state opposition campaign targeting congestion.
Visiting Footscray last week, opposition leader Daniel Andrews said state government plans to work on the Eastern Freeway at the expense of a second major river crossing would deliver decades of gridlock for motorists in the west.
“Under the Liberals, the east-west project has been shelved in favour of an east-east project that ignores congestion problems in the city’s inner west and threatens Victoria’s economic growth, with commuters and freight carriers losing time in traffic,” he said.
Mr Andrews was joined by state MPs Marsha Thomson, Wade Noonan and Khalil Eideh in launching a billboard campaign calling on the government to tackle congestion in the west.
The campaign comes as a secret draft of the government’s Victorian freight plan, obtained by Fairfax Media, predicts a surge in freight truck trips on Melbourne’s roads from 290,000 a day to almost 650,000 within three decades. Ms Thomson said the area was choking under the congestion of trucks and traffic.
Mr Noonan called on Premier Denis Nathine to reinstate Labor’s Truck Action Plan to reduce truck traffic in residential inner west streets.
The Fix West Congestion campaign also features a petition at FixWestCongestion.com.au
