Freight operators are pushing back at the Victorian Government’s decision to impose a new truck curfew on Williamstown Road.
They say the restriction will force heavy vehicles onto already congested and ageing inner-west corridors that cannot cope with the extra load.
The curfew will apply between Geelong Street in Seddon and the West Gate Freeway in Yarraville.
It will operate overnight on weekdays and continuously from Friday night to Monday morning when the West Gate Tunnel opens in mid-December.
Industry says network failures are being ignored
CTAA Director Neil Chambers says the ban exposes years of inaction on freight network upgrades.
“Container transport operators feel very let down, victimised and demonised even,” he says.
He says operators supported truck bans in principle but only on the condition that north–south freight routes were upgraded.
“That support was predicated on the need for important routes from Brooklyn, Tottenham and Sunshine to remain accessible and to be upgraded,” he says.
Unaddressed 2021 recommendations now back in focus
A 2021 corridor study recommended upgrading Millers Road, improving the Millers Road–Geelong Road–Francis Street intersection and revising traffic signals.
None of these steps have been implemented.
“Shamefully, for the last four years the Government has failed to act on these recommendations,” Chambers says.
Costs and congestion expected to rise
With Williamstown Road restricted, trucks will be pushed back onto Millers Road and into the Transurban toll point on the M1.
CTAA modelling suggests container cartage costs could rise by 13 to 30 per cent depending on the route and timing.
Chambers says the community should expect these increases to flow through to retail prices.
“The existing road infrastructure and traffic-light sequencing will not cope,” he says.
Calls for urgent investment before more bans
The Port of Melbourne handles nearly 9,000 TEU a day and contributes more than $10 billion to Victoria’s economy.
CTAA warns that more curfews without investment will damage the state’s freight competitiveness.
“You cannot keep adding restrictions without upgrading the network,” Chambers says. “Something will give unless the Government acts.”