By Candice Boyle
A NEW rail, road and freight strategy is critically needed to tackle the looming transport problems in the inner West, according to the Maribyrnong City Council’s submission to the East-West Link Needs Assessment Study.
Another bridge and tunnel to join the East and West and road, rail and public transport system upgrades and developments form the basis of the council’s 43-page report submitted to the study last week.
A comprehensive look at a range of solutions to manage current and future transport problems was undertaken by an in-house council team to provide background for the submission.
The report was one of many submitted to the $5 million State Government study being led by international transport expert Sir Rod Eddington.
The council’s submission may be one of the most detailed reports undertaken inside the study area as the municipality incorporates a large percentage of the area that extends from the Western Ring Road at the Dear Park Bypass, to east of Hoddle St at the Eastern Freeway.
Maribyrnong City Council mayor Michael Clarke said the outcome of the study was critical to the future of the City of Maribyrnong.
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“We are the gateway to the western region from the Melbourne CBD and are right next door to the Port of Melbourne. Our city’s proximity means we bear the brunt of growing freight traffic, commuter traffic and the associated amenity and environmental impacts,” he said.
Cr Clarke said the council had worked hard to ensure the recommendations they made are sustainable and workable.
“The solutions we propose will both alleviate the severity of our transport problems in the short term and address future capacity for Maribyrnong and the wider western region,” he said.
According to the submission a serious commitment is needed to long-term public transport improvements and land use policies to consolidate transport activity.
“A main concern for our residents is their ability to use public transport in a reliable, safe, affordable and convenient manner.
“Simply building more roads to cater for growth in commuter traffic isn’t sustainable. Our population is going to continue to grow and it becomes a costly game of catch up,” Cr Clarke said.
A direct tram from Footscray to the CBD and improvements to train lines and stations within the municipality forms part of the council’s public transport section of the submission.
In addition to public transport upgrades, the submission identifies the need for a range of solutions to address the transport problems already being experienced.
Cr Clarke said proposals for transport ‘corridors’ should also include freight traffic and commuter traffic infrastructure that can be used in a combination of ways.
Aspects considered in the council’s submission include proposals of a dedicated bus lane becoming a truck lane at off peak times and truck routes being used by commuter traffic if there were problems on the West Gate Freeway.
Suggested freight route access options make up a large component of the council’s submission.
“There’s a growing dissatisfaction with the state of transport in the western region. People are crying out for a solution to the constant freight movement, the proliferation of trucks, the congestion caused by increasing car use and the over burdened public transport system,” he said.
In addressing the freight concerns, the council’s submission looks at improving existing road infrastructure to create a new designated truck route on land under the West Gate Bridge.
The new route would then connect to upgraded existing roads to create a more direct route away from residential areas in Yarraville to connect with a new bridge over the Maribyrnong River and into the port.
A north-south road upgrade has also been considered to cater for the movement of trucks from Braybrook and Tottenham to the West Gate Freeway. The proposal looks at creating a viable connection route along Tottenham Parade, Paramount Rd and Dempster St.
“We need alternative truck routes to the port that are located away from residential areas,” Cr Clarke said.
Traffic and infrastructure components of the submission work in conjunction with the land use and environment recommendations made in the submission that ensure new short and long term strategies reduce transport related impacts on the community.
