Trucks will be able to lean on Williamstown and Geelong roads to skip Transurban’s tolls before going across the West Gate Bridge to reach the Port of Melbourne or the eastern suburbs.
Graeme Hammond, who began the Save Willy Road campaign in 2019, said it was appalling that the road was being sacrificed in an infrastructure project intending to remove trucks from residential streets.
Hammond said the “punishing” new road tolls would incentivise truck drivers to limit their costs, particularly overnight when car traffic declines.
“The tunnel is just months from opening, which is when our nightmare will begin,” he said.
“The lack of a truck ban – or night curfew at least – will mean it’s open slather for trucks.
“My concern is that the noise, vibration and diesel pollution from passing trucks will worsen further, depriving us of sleep and exacerbating asthma problems in our family.”
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For two decades, Felicity Forrester’s family has dealt with diesel fumes, noise disturbing sleep and thick grime coating her house.
She lives just off Williamstown Road with her husband and three children, and like most locals, has seen too many near-misses and avoids walking along the truck route as much as possible.
Forrester said there had been a noticeable rise in trucks during tunnel project works, and she felt the road, which was narrow and uneven, was not an appropriate freight route. She called for a night curfew as a bare minimum.
“Other streets are being prioritised with bans and all the tunnel project has done is increase traffic on Williamstown Road,” she said.
“From the walking paths, it feels like you’re one step away from the trucks. It’s dirty and actually scary … There are bedrooms two or three metres from heavy traffic.”
Maribyrnong Truck Action Group president Martin Wurt said Williamstown Road was about to be the focus of community outrage. He said air quality monitors must be set up.
“Francis Street has been the epicentre of community unrest for decades and now Williamstown Road will become that road,” he said. “It’s a total failure to spend billions on a new tunnel system and leave roads like this behind.
“For anyone to think it’s an appropriate freight route … even Francis Street is a wider road. Resident health should come first.”
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In letters sent in November 2024 and March 2025, seen by The Age, Roads Minister Melissa Horne said that Williamstown Road was an important north-south “major arterial” and critical freight route.
She wrote there were no plans to implement a night curfew as this would cause freight efficiency issues.
A state government traffic corridor study of Williamstown and Millers roads, which was done six years ago, would be used, according to Horne, to investigate whether any changes could be put in place for safety and amenity.
Victorian Transport Association chief executive Peter Anderson said that while the new tunnel would benefit several inner-west streets, there was no doubt that some truck drivers would use Williamstown Road to avoid tolls.
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An initiative supported by the Victorian Transport Association and Maribyrnong Truck Action Group, called the smart freight partnership, would have extended truck curfews to Williamstown Road, but the state government shelved this idea in 2020.
“[Williamstown Road] really shouldn’t have trucks going down it,” Anderson said. “It’s a suburban street, and it’s got 30-metre trucks going down it – it’s just crazy.
“Every transport operator I know that has to go down there on a regular basis will use Williamstown Road.”
Anderson said he would like to see some changes to the new tolls – including more discounts for multiple uses in a 24-hour period and an annualised fee structure – but added companies would just pass on any costs to consumers.
National Bulk Tanker Association chairman Justin Keast, who represents truck drivers transporting fuel and other chemicals, said the tunnel’s high tolls would affect the cost of living.
“The minute the toll roads open, transport costs will escalate. Everything you touch will go up in price,” he said. “This is a terrible outcome for Victorians.”
Keast said fuel tankers were not permitted to enter the tunnel due to restrictions on transporting dangerous goods, but would cop the full tolls when they drove on the freeway to reach loading terminals via Hyde Street.
He said that at least three roads nominated for truck bans should remain open for bulk tankers, otherwise vehicles carrying dangerous goods would be concentrated on a limited number of streets.
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He warned that Williamstown and Millers roads would be gravely impacted by the new tollway.
Maribyrnong Council, which declared a health emergency in 2023 following high rates of illness linked to pollution, last month moved to advocate for truck bans on Williamstown Road.
A Victorian government spokeswoman said the Department of Transport and Planning would monitor traffic levels on Williamstown Road before and after the tunnel’s completion to manage changes on surrounding roads.
She said traffic flow on the road would improve with upgrades to the freeway interchange.
“The West Gate Tunnel Project will transform the way people move across the west, taking thousands of trucks off local roads, while delivering a vital alternative to the West Gate Bridge,” she said.
The West of Melbourne Summit, presented by WoMEDA with The Age, will be held on October 22-23. For details go to womeda.com.au
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