Go west
The West Gate Tunnel spaghetti junction could ruin your holiday travel
Victorians are being warned to prepare for major changes in how they access the M80 and Princes Freeway – or cop a nine-kilometre road back.
- Patrick Hatch
Latest
West Gate Tunnel opening date revealed
The much-delayed and long-anticipated roads project will finally open this weekend, providing an alternative river crossing to the West Gate Bridge.
- Patrick Hatch and Kieran Rooney
New mental health clinic opens in western Melbourne as demand surges
The 21-bed clinic has replaced a private hospital which entered voluntary administration last year after just 14 months of operation.
- Lachlan Abbott
Infrastructure Victoria objects to government delay on key rail upgrade for the west
Plans to extend the Metro network to Melton should be accelerated, the state’s infrastructure adviser says, but the state government has said it will wait until after 2030.
- Patrick Hatch and Adam Carey
Greek to Vietnamese, strip malls to fine diners: The Good Food Guide heads west
The Guide’s number of restaurants in Melbourne’s west has nearly tripled over the past four years − and locals are loving it.
- Emma Breheny
This western suburb is ripe for a housing boom, council says. Developers disagree
In the heart of the inner west, 22 sites with planning permits for more than 4000 homes are sitting idle as developers are accused of landbanking.
- Adam Carey and Patrick Hatch
- Exclusive
- Victoria
Western suburbs rail boost pushed back to 2030s and beyond
Electrification of the Melton line will not begin until the Sunshine Superhub is built, with upgrades to the booming Wyndham Vale corridor delayed even further.
- Adam Carey, Chip Le Grand, Gemma Grant and Patrick Hatch
‘A metropolis of multiple cities’: The radical plan to fix the west’s brain drain
Planning experts say Sunshine should be Melbourne’s second CBD, while satellite cities in the outer west would allow western suburbs residents to work close to home.
- Sophie Aubrey and Gemma Grant
These ‘satellite cities’ could reshape Melbourne. Locals are pushing for jobs over housing
The outer west has absorbed more of Melbourne’s growing population than any other area. Investing in local jobs would transform the booming region.
- Adam Carey
- Exclusive
- Planning
‘Segregated’ city: The west alone can’t shoulder housing boom, minister warns
Housing Minister Clare O’Neil says wealthier inner and middle suburbs must accept new housing as Wyndham, Melton and Brimbank have done the “heavy lifting”.
- Annika Smethurst