The Victorian Transport Association (VTA) has endorsed the State Government’s recent announcement of heavy vehicle curfews on Williamstown Road, Melbourne.
The VTA says the West Gate Tunnel, due to open mid-December, will deliver the dual benefits of improved liveability for residents and enhanced efficiency for freight operators.
Victorian Minister for Ports and Freight, the Hon. Melissa Horne, has issued a statement that a night-time and weekend ‘No-Truck Zone’ will be enforced on Williamstown Road between Geelong Street in Seddon and the West Gate Freeway in Yarraville on weekdays from 8:00pm to 6:00am, and over weekends from 8:00pm Friday to 6:00am Monday.
Exemptions will apply for essential deliveries, and compliance will be monitored through smart roadside cameras.
While the VTA has backed the curfews, the Container Transport Alliance Australia (CTAA) says the truck limits highlight a lack of road freight planning by the State Government.
The curfew pinpoint the lack of action to upgrade important feeder freight routes vital to productive access to the Port of Melbourne for containerised freight, the CTAA says.
Conversely, the VTA says the tunnel opening and associated curfew will provide a seamless alternative for heavy vehicles requiring direct access to the Port of Melbourne, while reducing their movements on residential streets in Melbourne’s inner west.
VTA CEO, Peter Anderson, said the curfews represent a win-win for residents and freight operators.
“The West Gate Tunnel will provide a much more seamless and efficient alternative for heavy vehicles that require direct access to the Port of Melbourne,” he says.
“This infrastructure investment means we can reduce truck movements on residential streets, like Williamstown Road, while ensuring freight operators have the capacity they need to keep Victoria moving.
“Striking a balance between community amenity and economic prosperity is critical. Residents in Melbourne’s inner west will enjoy safer, quieter streets, while freight and logistics operators will benefit from improved travel times and reliability through the West Gate Tunnel.”
Meanwhile the CTAA is calling on the State Government to immediately act on recommendations it has been sitting on for over four years to upgrade road infrastructure in Melbourne’s inner west in order to maintain freight efficiency and productivity.
CTAA Director, Neil Chambers, says “container transport operators feel very let down – victimised and demonised even” with the curfew, adding that container transport operators provide essential logistics handling for all shipping containers that pass through the Port of Melbourne, which equates to almost 9,000 Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEU) per day.
“CTAA and our Alliance companies have worked with the Government and the Department of Transport & Planning (DTP) for many years to prepare for the implementation of No Truck Zones on the east-west routes in Melbourne’s inner west,” says Chambers.
“These truck bans made sense to provide improved safety & amenity to the communities and residents in inner western suburbs.
“That support however was predicated on the need for important north-south routes from the industrial precincts of Brooklyn, Tottenham and Sunshine to the West Gate Freeway (M1) to remain accessible and to be upgraded to accommodate an increase in freight movements.”
Chambers says an initial Environmental Effects Statement (EES) for the West Gate Tunnel Project recommended that the Government undertake a corridor study along Millers Road and Williamstown Road, between the West Gate Freeway and Geelong Road to determine traffic and transport management works required to cater for the projected traffic volumes in 2031.
From that study the Department of Transport tabled a series of findings with the Government by in September 2021 recommending freight efficiency upgrades, including:
- Optimising the traffic signal network to channel freight through industrial roads from the Brooklyn, Tottenham, Sunshine and Altona North industrial areas.
- Promote appropriate freight movements on Grieve Parade and Millers Road.
- Intersection upgrades on Millers Road / Geelong Road / Francis Street.
- Upgrading Millers Road, between Geelong Road and West Gate Freeway, to cater to the forecast increased traffic volumes.
The CTAA says the State Government has not acted on those recommendations since they were tabled, leading to delays, congestion and inadequate freight routes between the Port of Melbourne and the industrial precincts in the inner west.
“The night and weekend truck bans on Williamstown Road will push heavy vehicles back to the Millers Road corridor and through the Transurban heavy vehicle tolling point east of Millers Road on the M1,” says Neil Chambers.
“CTAA is extremely concerned that the existing dilapidated road infrastructure and traffic-light sequencing will not cope.”
Chambers says the Government needs to urgently upgrade existing freight road infrastructure in light of the curfews to Melbourne’s inner west.
“You can’t keep squeezing the freight sector and not expect something to break.”
However, the VTA praised the State Government for its commitment to community liveability and freight efficiency, as well as its planning for the future freight task, which is expected to double by 2050.
“To meet this growing demand, we need larger, more productive heavy vehicles operating on infrastructure that can handle them,” Peter Anderson says.
“The West Gate Tunnel is a vital piece of that puzzle, ensuring Victoria’s supply chains remain efficient and competitive.”
Read about the VTA’s approach to previous transport fines relating to the West Gate Tunnel project.
