Eerie calm descends on Francis Street as West Gate Tunnel silences trucks

Residents in Melbourne’s inner-west have celebrated the disappearance of trucks from local roads as the West Gate Tunnel toll road finally opened to traffic on Sunday, following a turbulent decade marked by delays and multi-billion dollar cost blowouts.

Traffic trickled through the new $10.2 billion road under Yarraville on Sunday after its 4 kilometre outbound tunnel opened at 12.10am and the 2.8 kilometre city-bound tunnel opened at 2.15am.

At its peak, the alternative to the West Gate Bridge is projected to carry 67,000 vehicles a day, and remove 28,000 trucks from the bridge and streets in inner west suburbs.

The state government projects drivers travelling into the city from Melbourne’s west or Geelong will save up to 20 minutes on their journey.

Despite sparse traffic in the new tunnel, inner-west residents said there was a noticeable decrease in trucks on local roads on Sunday thanks to the accompanying implementation of a truck ban on six roads in Yarraville, Footscray, Spotswood and Altona North.

“It was eerie not having a single truck on Francis Street this morning,” said Breanne Geyle, who has lived on the street for almost 40 years. “I’m elated.”

June Jones, another Francis Street resident, said the volume and size of trucks had increased significantly over the past decade, exposing residents to pollution and danger.

“They’ve allowed road trains down residential streets where we’ve got kids crossing here to get to school,” she said. “Having the trucks off will help with the pollution and also just the safety of the kids and the residents of the area.”

Maribyrnong Truck Action Group’s Martin Wurt said he had received only one report of a truck violating the new ban on Sunday.

However, Wurt said he was concerned about the state government’s comments that freight companies would have a grace period of up to six months before being issued $610 fines for driving on the newly banned routes.

“Industry and the government have had 10 years to prepare for today, so that is of concern for our community,” he said.

Wurt also said the community would continue its campaign to have pollution filters installed on the new tunnel’s ventilation stacks in Yarraville.

Nevertheless, he said the tunnel opening and truck ban would be “life-changing” for inner-west communities.

“Imagine walking to school with your kids, or worrying about your teenagers riding bikes, or opening a window on a hot summer’s night and not having trucks any more. That’s going to be incredible,” Wurt said.

Roads Minister Melissa Horne said on Sunday that major trucking companies were ready to comply with the ban, but it would take time for some operators to adjust.

“Once we start seeing repeat offenders, that’s when the penalty regime will start being enforced,” Horne said.

Although some inner-west neighbourhoods will see less truck traffic, the new toll road is expected to significantly increase traffic on Williamstown Road, and pump thousands of extra vehicles into West Melbourne, North Melbourne, Docklands and northern CBD every day.

A trip through the tunnel will set motorists back $4.09 for a car and $6.54 for a ute or van, and more than double that if they exit into the CBD’s west during the weekday morning peak.

The small number of motorists using the new toll road on Sunday were getting questionable value for money: A trip from Altona to the eastern suburbs was only two minutes faster using the tunnel compared to using the West Gate Bridge for free, according to Google Maps.

Transurban is paying for $6.1 billion of the West Gate Tunnel’s construction costs in exchange for operating tolls on the new road and a 10-year extension to its CityLink contract.

Premier Jacinta Allan said she did not regret that Labor embarked on the project a decade ago, despite billions of dollars in cost overruns and a three-year delay caused by a dispute over toxic soil.

“Yes, this was a really complex project and it did face some challenges on its journey,” she said.

“[But] it’s worth it today because of what it means right now: an alternative to the West Gate Bridge, trucks off local roads, direct access to the Port of Melbourne, getting people home to their families sooner.

“It’ll be also worth it in the decades ahead because as our city and state grows, this is exactly the sort of infrastructure we need to invest in today to support that growth into the future.”

A month of free travel on weekends through the tunnel will begin in January.

Trucks will have to pay between $49.45 and $74.19 per day to use the West Gate Freeway and new tunnel, depending on their size, in addition to CityLink tolls.

Victorian Transport Association chief executive Peter Anderson said the project had many community benefits, but the cost was borne by freight operators now paying tolls to use the West Gate Freeway, the tunnel, or the bridge.

Anderson said that in return, the freight industry should be permitted to operate more efficient triple-trailer trucks on the new dedicated route from the Port of Melbourne to the logistics hubs in the western suburbs.

“We’re playing our part in making sure community amenity is recognised. How about us seeing some benefit as well?” he said.

Transurban group executive of operations David Clements said the toll giant expected to see more traffic during the Monday morning peak. “Then we’ll see how things evolve over time,” he said.

The new roadway – which has three lanes in each direction – descends under the West Gate Freeway, with large architectural “fishing nets” soaring above the tunnel’s entrances and exits.

The largest, at the northern entrance in Yarraville, is 38 metres high and wide and consists of 364 laminated timber beams. Green and rainbow lights illuminate the walls of the tunnel at different intervals.

The tunnel is monitored from Transurban’s Footscray control centre, where crews monitor almost 900 camera feeds from across Melbourne, looking for breakdowns and bingles.

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