I live on Hyde Street, south of Francis Street. I am all for improving conditions for the majority of Yarraville residents and the greater good, however, its clear that the ramps will negetively effect my family and I in some way i.e. either property aquisition or a great big dirty truck superhighway running past my front door. Has the government given you any indication of what the impact will be to the residents on Hyde Street south of Francis street?

Thanks

Adrian

The trouble is Vicroads does not see Whitehall St as a residential street worth keeping trucks off as they have repeatedly made it clear to me in our correspondence. They have put it on the “Principal Freight Network” and justify the decision based on the current and future needs of freight. We are not one of the high profile residential streets and don’t have enough residents to make a real difference politically so I guess that is the reason.

When you consider -
1) between now and 2020 the number of trucks will increase 1000 per year
2) by completion of the ramps approx. 200,000 vehicles will use the Westgate daily
3) the ramps carry traffic previously using Francis Street/Somerville Road plus a percentage of those previously using the Westgate.
4) container trade will quadruple within 20 years.

The estimate is reasonable (at least for 2020/2030). The actual figure does not change any of the previous thoughts.

>I think it’s important that we lobby for cars to not be allowed to use the route at least during peak hours. Any thoughts on that??

The ban on cars using the road is a necessary requirement, although IMHO unlikely event.

The biggest problem with allowing standard vehicles is that the actual benefit to the transport industry will be completely negated by the bottleneck which will form at Napier/Whitehall. The benefit of a truck-only route include efficiency gains, economic factors, improved safety etc. Additionally traffic flow on the Westgate will improve markedly with a reduction in heavy vehicles. Obviously emergency vehicles and buses would be exempt.

I am keen firstly, to see whom is awarded the design contract and secondly a proposed timeline.

Basic modelling using VISUM shows that some traffic measure at the Francis Street/Hyde Street intersection is mandatory. Assuming cars and trucks, can use this route it could be reasonably estimated that 60,000 vehicles will use this route per day, in addition to traffic originating from Spotswood, Newport and Williamstown.

A ‘calming’ measure is simply not enough. Whilst Eddingtons proposed alignment was IMHO wrong, he was correct in presenting a ‘restraint’ measure. Quite simply, the south and north sections of Hyde Street need to be disconnected.

However, I agree with Emily’s premise that the lack of funding will result in a very poor result.

>There’s also an opportunity here to transform Hyde (north of Francis) into a major route for cyclists and pedestrians, who may not be too keen to use the ‘new’ off-road path along Whitehall once it’s an even busier truck route.

This is actually being built now. Universal Concrete Contractors are constructing a $700k bike path, along the eastern side of Hyde Street.

It’s important to shift the trucks from Francis and Somerville Rd, but it’s also essential that there isn’t a naive assumption that these ramps won’t funnel more traffic (car and truck) down residential sections of Hyde St and past a popular park, primary school and kindergarten.

In the enthusiasm to support these ramps, MTAG must keep strongly advocating for these residents too. MTAG has access to decision-makers that residents simply can’t get, despite letter writing or attendance at forums.

The current ban on trucks using Hyde St (north of Francis) isn’t respected, so why wouldn’t there be a substantial increase in truck traffic along this section of Hyde St unless there are effective (physical) obstructions? Without adequate budget, it is likely that adequate enforcement of truck bans will be the very area to be neglected.