Mothers Lindy Benwell, Karen Burns and Elonie Prenter are concerned about the upcoming changes to the Moore and Hopkins St intersection. 93399_02 Picture: JOE MASTROIANNI
A BAND of Footscray residents are furious after discovering Regional Rail Link plans to make the Moore and Hopkins St intersection more truck-friendly.
Footscray resident Adrian Basso said residents were informed of plans to extend “semi-trailer friendly” turning lanes from Hopkins St into Moore St at a recent community meeting.
Mr Basso told Star the works, which are part of the extension of the Hopkins St bridge, came as a surprise to residents and community groups who were not consulted on the changes.
“The intersection is going to be … more truck-friendly,” Mr Basso said.
“The amount of trucks that are coming through now are bad enough.
“We feel like Footscray is being treated like a doormat. They’re putting in all these lasting changes that are completely against what the residents want.”
Mr Basso said the redevelopment works should have been an opportunity to fix the intersection and make it a safe and attractive gateway to Footscray.
But Tim Holmes from the Regional Rail Link Authority insisted that the changes were not being made to improve conditions for trucks.
“In order to construct the new Regional Rail Link tracks the Hopkins St bridge over the rail line needs to be extended,” Mr Holmes said.
“As a result, several changes will be made to Hopkins St and some local roads in order to maintain compliance with current road safety standards.
“The Hopkins St-Moore St intersection is currently operating beyond its design capacity, resulting in increased congestion and traffic delays,” Mr Holmes said.
“To enhance traffic flow through the interchange and reduce peak time congestion, the west-bound right turn lanes on Hopkins St will be extended to increase junction capacity.
“The extended right turn lanes will extend the median beyond Cowper St, meaning Cowper St (south) will be restricted to left-in and left-out movements.”
Relief may be on the way for Footscray residents after the Federal Government last week announced $3.5 million in funding for a pre-feasibility study for the proposed Western Interstate Freight Terminal in Truganina.
If the plan is approved, the project will create an interstate terminal and freight precinct at Truganina, and a link to the Interstate Rail Freight Network that would remove the need for interstate trains and trucks to enter the Port of Melbourne precinct and reduce heavy freight traffic in the inner West.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the project would take more than 700,000 trucks a year off Melbourne’s roads.
