The Victorian Liberal Party has accused the state government of ignoring resident and family concerns in Melbourne’s inner west about the impending opening of the West Gate Tunnel.
The new road connection is set to open later this year, with surrounding communities preparing for thousands of trucks to flood local streets due to the toll in place.
The Liberal Party says estimates are expecting a doubling of truck traffic on the surrounding streets to 4,700 heavy vehicles per day by 2031 due to drivers avoiding the tunnel’s $178 daily toll.
When opened, the tunnel will introduce 24/7 no-truck zones on six inner-west roads, meaning thousands of trucks will flood other local streets where the truck ban doesn’t apply.
Compounding this is the state government’s planned closure of the Sunshine rail freight corridor, which threatens the future of a significant logistics hub at Deer Park that could remove 125,000 trucks from Victorian roads each year and create more than 23,000 jobs.
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Victorian shadow ports and freight minister Roma Britnell, alongside member for Western Metropolitan region Trung Luu, have met with concerned residents and families.
“The government has been told that investing in a simple 400-metre rail link workaround at the Sunshine Superhub could preserve the freight junction but they are doing nothing,” Britnell says.
“Labor’s lack of interest in the west will mean freight trains from Ballarat will now be forced to travel an extra 47 kilometres via Geelong to reach the Port of Melbourne.
“This is inefficient, economically reckless, and will put more trucks on the road through west Melbourne suburbs.”
Luu says the inner west is already suffering from some of the worst truck congestion and air pollution in the state, meaning the tunnel signals a concerning increase in both for the region.
“Without rail freight, we’re condemning these communities to more noise, more pollution and fewer jobs,” Luu says.
“Labor is taking Melbourne’s inner west for granted. They are not listening to genuine concerns about noise and pollution.”
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