West Gate Tunnel

The West Gate Tunnel,^[1] originally known as the Western Distributor, is a proposed 5 kilometre toll road in Melbourne, Australia, to link the West Gate Freeway at Yarraville with CityLink at Docklands via a tunnel beneath Yarraville. The $5.5 billion project was proposed by infrastructure company Transurban in 2014 as a means of alleviating congestion on the M1 corridor, providing a new river crossing as an alternative to the West Gate Bridge and moving trucks away from homes in the city's inner west. The freeway-standard link would include a 1.5 km-long, six-lane tunnel and a new bridge over the Maribyrnong River. The Victorian government announced in December 2015 it would proceed with the project. Construction of the tunnel and elevated tollway is scheduled to begin by the end of 2017 and be completed by 2022.^[2][3][4]

A change to part of the plans, in which off-ramps over a reserve would replace a section of tunnel, has sparked criticism of the project.

Background and route

Heavy vehicles queue for traffic lights on Whitehall Street, Footscray, on a route that would be bypassed by the proposed West Gate Tunnel

The project was presented to then Victorian Labor opposition in 2014 as an unsolicited proposal by Transurban, and kept secret until a public announcement by the Labor government in March 2015.^[5] Transurban offered to pay two-thirds of the cost of construction in exchange for a 10 to 15-year extension of its CityLink toll contract. The remainder of the cost would be borne by federal funds.^[6][7]

The Victorian government began assessing the proposal in March 2015 and announced in December that it would proceed. It said it would contribute $400 million of state funds and has proposed seeking funds previously committed by the federal government to the abandoned East West Link project.^[8] The road project was proposed as an alternative to the government's $680 million West Gate Distributor, which in turn was designed to replace the western section of the East West Link.^[9]

The proposed route has undergone some modification since plans were first released. The current plan is for eastbound traffic using the Western Distributor to exit the West Gate Freeway via an off-ramp near Williamstown Road, then enter the tunnel whose entrance would be on industrial land to the north of the freeway. Vehicles would emerge from the tunnel near Whitehall Street in Yarraville, then ascend to a new bridge over the Maribyrnong River and on to road elevated above Footscray Road, from where they would gain access to Swanson Dock at the Port of Melbourne, CityLink and the CBD via Docklands. A new link between the Western Distributor and Hyde Street would allow placarded trucks carrying dangerous loads such as fuel to directly access the freeway network for either eastbound or westbound travel rather than use local streets.^[10]

Under the original plans for the project, the tunnel's western portal was in the centre of the freeway, west of Williamstown Road. In September 2015 Transurban released a modified plan, which it said was the result of public consultation, that moved the tunnel portal to a site near Stony Point Reserve, north of the freeway and between Hyde and Beverley streets. The move, which would result in the tunnel length being reduced by between 500 metres and 1 km, has attracted criticism over the likelihood of additional noise, pollution and visual impact from the use of twin off-ramps connecting the portal to the freeway. The ramps and portal would be within 100 metres of Yarraville homes. Critics claim the proposed new location of the tunnel portal would result in the loss of part of the reserve and the creation of a "spaghetti junction" of overhead freeway ramps. A new community group, Concerned Locals of Yarraville, was formed and a petition started to oppose the move.^[11]

Government press releases in April 2017 began to refer to the project as the West Gate Tunnel.^[1]

Tolls

Toll fees for using the 5 km road and tunnel have been estimated at $3 for cars and $13 for trucks,^[2] but Transurban says it may exempt trucks carrying dangerous placarded goods as an incentive to remove those trucks from local streets.^[12]

The state government submitted the business case to Infrastructure Australia and the federal government in early December 2015 with a plea for commonwealth funding.^[13] It announced the project will also include the widening of the West Gate Freeway from eight to 12 lanes between the M80 Ring Road and Williamstown Road and a $400 million widening of the Monash Freeway.^[3] In April 2016 the state government said it would proceed without federal funding, instead allocating $1.4 billion to the project over four years.^[14][15]

Work on the project's first stage, a link to Webb Dock, was scheduled to begin in December 2015.^[16]

A 12-year extension to Transurban's tolling concession on CityLink, agreed as part of the proposed funding arrangement, has been estimated to provide Transurban with an additional $20 to $30 billion in tolling revenue.^[17]

Environment Effects Statement

In May 2017 an Environment Effects Statement (EES) was released by the Andrews Labor Government. It assesses environmental, social and health impacts of the project. The community was given only 30 business days by the State Government to review the 10,000 pages of detailed, technical information.^[18]

The EES included modelling of traffic and congestion which demonstrated that even if the West Gate Tunnel is built, travel times along all existing routes, including the West Gate Freeway, the West Gate Bridge, Geelong Road, Buckley Street, Moore Street and CityLink during the morning and afternoon peaks would be worse in 2031 than they were in 2016. The modelling showed that the only route that would be quicker would be via the tolled tunnel, with a maximum saving of 8 minutes each way when compared to the slowest, non-tolled route.^[19] These commute times were far worse than expected: the Andrews Labor Government had previously claimed that commuters in Werribee, Point Cook and Geelong would save 20 minutes each way.^[20]

The EES indicated that the West Gate Tunnel would introduce thousands of more cars per day to residential streets in West Melbourne and North Melbourne. Modelling of traffic volumes in 2031 compared to a base case in 2031 of not building the West Gate Tunnel showed that, in North Melbourne and West Melbourne^[21]:

• Arden Street would carry 2,500 extra vehicles a day.
• Queensberry Street would carry 1,500 extra vehicles per day.
• Dryburgh Street would carry 3,500 extra vehicles per day.
• Curzon Street would carry 2,000 extra vehicles per day.
• Victoria Street would carry 3,000 extra vehicles per day.

In Docklands, Wurundjeri Way would be widened from 4 to 6 lanes, and is expected to carry another 9,000 vehicles per day. Docklands’ Harbour Esplanade, which is currently highly accommodating of pedestrians and cyclists, will have an extra 500 vehicles per day, slowing down trams in the morning and afternoon rush hours. These changes would Docklands into a throughway between the West Gate Tunnel and industrial areas in Port Melbourne and South Melbourne.^{[22] [23]}

The EES notes that there is a risk the toll road will have detrimental impacts on the local community. The EES suggests that the chance of noise resulting from vents and portals impacting upon cognitive function at schools, sleep disturbances causing an increase in hypertension, and increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and premature mortality is 'medium'. The risk of noise resulting from the freeway component of the project impacting on cognition function at schools, sleep disturbance leading to an increase in hypertension, and increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and premature mortality is ranked as 'high'. There is also a 'high' chance of residential houses and community facilities being subjected to dust and particles which will be created through disturbance of contaminated industrial sites during construction.^[24]

Expert assessments of traffic modelling

The Environment Effects Statement was assessed by Nathan Pittman, a PhD Candidate in Urban Planning at the University of Melbourne. Pittman found that the traffic modelling presented in the Environment Effects Statement of the West Gate Tunnel (WGT) is based on a practice that has a poor history of accuracy and rests on numerous assumptions that may not come to be. His conclusion was that:

Key areas of concern are the lack of inclusion of updated land-use data, which effectively implies that the WGT will not alter land-use; that the WGT appears necessary in the model, in part, because of roads that have not been constructed yet; and that the models indicate large growth in public transport usage, but offer a road as a solution. We have choices about many of these, and we can choose the future transportation network we want our city to have.^[25]

The City of Melbourne conducted an analysis of the traffic modelling presented in the Environment Effects Statement in a 71-page report and found the WGT would:

• Result in peak hour-like traffic conditions for 12-14 hours a day on four roads in North Melbourne;
• Negatively affect tram performance across northern Melbourne; and,
• Possibly undermine future tram improvements.

The report also stated the project would undermine future potential development of land five kilometres from the CBD, and remove 15,500 square metres of tree canopy.^[26] The report also found the WGT would fail to improve access to the west, reduce truck traffic on residential streets and reduce congestion.^[27]

Criticism

The Victorian Greens are opposed to the West Gate Tunnel and host a campaign website with an analysis of the Environment Effects Statement and the impacts of the West Gate Tunnel on the community - www.thetollroadwontwork.org.au

Colleen Hartland, Victorian Greens MP representing Western Metropolitan, has repeatedly called for the Environment Effects Statement review period to be extended beyond 30 business days.^[28]

Transport expert William McDougall gave evidence at a hearing of the Senate Inquiry into the Operation of existing and proposed toll roads on Thursday 3 August 2017. Mr McDougall was so alarmed by what he believed to be the weak economic case for the West Gate Tunnel when he was employed by the State Government to assess the proposal in 2015, that he personally contacted State Treasurer Tim Pallas to raise his concerns. He told the Senate inquiry he contacted the treasurer directly after unsuccessfully raising his concerns within the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources. He was unexpectedly taken off the project about a week later. Mr McDougall said the Environment Effects Statement showed the issues he had raised with Treasurer Pallas had not been altered since he was removed from the project.^[29]

Ryan Smith MP, the Opposition Spokesperson for Roads, has stated that "My personal position is that Transurban is gouging motorists and Daniel Andrews has backed himself into a corner – it's the worst negotiating position possible for taxpayers."^[30]

Hobsons Bay City Council indicated the toll road would lead to a significant increase in truck traffic on its city’s streets, increased air pollution, and more noise. The Mayor, Cr Sandra Wilson, called for truck bans on Millers Road except for vehicles that start or terminate their journey at Brooklyn or Altona North, due to the EES traffic modelling showing that there would 7,000 extra truck movements per day on Millers Road. Cr Wilson said:

“These functions will all undoubtedly be affected by the proposed increase of 7000 truck movements per day resulting from toll avoidance and the City of Maribyrnong truck bans.”^[31]

See also

• West Gate Distributor
• East West Link

References

External links

• Project website
• Transurban information page on Western Distributor