It has not been widely reported, but MTAG has been recently involved in a stoush with Chalmers, a large container transport firm that operates at the far west end of Francis St in Yarraville. Chalmers is one of the major generators of truck traffic on Francis St and sends containers to the port (as well as empty trucks from the port) via Francis St, 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

MTAG has long argued that Chalmers should not be included in the ‘local trucks’ exemption given their depot is only meters from Millers Rd and a convenient entry to the Westgate Freeway. MTAG’s view is in line with the Victorian Transport Association, which recommends that trucks use the Westgate Freeway and Bolte Bridge calling it ‘The Easy Way’ Freeway Benefits Program download pdf

Recently, Chalmers moved its operations west of Cemetery Rd (which intersects Francis St) taking them outside the curfew boundary. Chalmers has, however, kept using Francis St and ignored our calls to respect residential health, safety, and amenity. Instead, amazingly, Chalmers’ general manager Craig Webster called for B Triples to be allowed to use Francis St in this local news piece.

Provocatively he also states that his trucks will continue to use Francis St after the on/off ramps linking the Westgate to the port are built.

This spurred MTAG into action and, with the help of local member Wade Noonan we sought a ruling from the Minister, which unequivocally states that Chalmers’ operations are now outside the local truck zone and its trucks are not allowed to use Francis St in curfew hours. Vic Roads has acknowledged this ruling and has had meetings with Mr Webster to inform him that Chalmers trucks must now use the route to the port via the Westgate during curfew hours. Vic Roads has backed this action with policing and some fines but it is not enough and Chalmers trucks continue to break the law.

It seems that Chalmers’ main issue is the fact that currently, if it uses the Westgate route its trucks have to pay a small toll on the Bolte Bridge. MTAG has therefore sought a meeting with Chalmers to try to find ways we can lobby together to hurry the completion of the Westgate on/off ramp project, which would mean that Chalmers trucks could access the port without using Francis St and without paying tolls. Mr Webster has ignored our emails and messages.

Chalmers has also belligerently continued to ignore the curfews obviously making some kind of calculation that the savings made on tolls by using Francis St outweigh the amount it will have to pay in fines given the limited resources Vic Roads allocates to policing the curfews.

We need action from MTAG members on this. We need you to write to local member, Wade Noonan, wade.noonan@parliament.vic.gov.au and to Minister Tim Pallas requesting greater resources for policing curfews. We also call for citizens to report curfew breakers, here’s how:

Any truck exiting from Chalmers’ depot west of Cemetery Rd in Francis St and heading east is breaking the curfew between the hours of 8pm and 6am Monday to Friday and between 2pm Saturday and 6am Monday. Any truck heading west along Francis St and crossing Cemetery Rd is also a curfew breaker. If you can get details (time, direction, licence plate, description) and use the form below to upload to us. We will forward to Vic Roads and have them prosecute the breach. A photograph is also good if you have your mobile phone handy.

It is time we demanded corporate responsibility from companies like Chalmers, which has ignored community health, safety, and amenity for too long.

The Victorian Government recently released its $38 billion Victorian Transport Plan.
Members of the public are invited to a Public Information Display to learn more about the plan – including major road and rail projects to be delivered in Melbourne’s west. This is an opportunity to learn more about the plan by talking directly to project staff.

More information www.transport.vic.gov.au

When
Wednesday 29 April 2009
Display open between
6.00pm and 8.30pm

Where
M001 (Building M Room 001)
Footscray Park Campus
Victoria University
Ballarat Road, Footscray
Melway ref 2S F4

Click here to download the pdf

The Victorian Government is having a Public Information Display about the Victorian Transport Plan.
Members of the public are invited to the evening to learn more about the plan and to talk directly to project staff.
This is a great opportunity to hear and ask about the Truck Action Plan.

The proposed new on/off ramps from the Westgate Freeway have the potential to remove up to 80% of the trucks on Francis Street, Somerville Road and Williamstown Road.

When:     Monday 16 March 6:00pm – 8:30pm
Where:     Victoria University, Gate 1
460 Ballartat Rd Sunshine
Mel Ref 26 J10

Further information on the plan is here

Download the pdf for the Victorian Transport Plan

The Victorian government today released its long awaited Victorian Transport Plan (VTP)

A link to the plan can be found here:

www4.transport.vic.gov.au/vtp/

So what’s in the plan in relation to trucks in the inner west?

The VTP contains a Truck Action Plan to be carried out in two stages and is dependent on Commonwealth funding. Details are here: http://www4.transport.vic.gov.au/vtp/projects/truckactionplan.html

Stage 1- Construction of a new link to the Westgate Freeway via Hyde Street. This also will involve the widening of Hyde and Whitehall Roads and strengthening of Shepherd’s bridge. A map containing details of this can be found here: http://www4.transport.vic.gov.au/vtp/pdfs/road_tunnel_geelong_to_port_melb.pdf

This link will remove up to 70% of the existing trucks on Francis Street and Somerville Road as is a great outcome for residents, schools and communities along these routes.

This is the link that MTAG called for in its submission to the Eddington plan.

Stage 2 – The construction of a tunnel from the port area that will link with Sunshine and Geelong Rds and the upgrades of Paramount Rd and Dempster Rd between Sunshine Rd and Geelong Rd. The tunnel is included in the second stage of the Truck Action Plan but in reality is the first part of the government’s plan for a new alternative to the Westgate Bridge. This is not a project that MTAG supported in its submissions. We did however support the upgrading of Paramount and Dempster Roads.

Our initial reaction to this tunnel is that it will funnel more trucks onto Geelong Road.  MTAG opposes any relocation of the truck problem to other residential areas.

Does today’s announcements show in detail where the new on/off ramps will be located?

No there is still no detailed mapping for the new link. What is does show is that Hyde Street north of Francis Street is not affected. It shows the route as Hyde Street up to Francis Street, then right onto Francis Street, then turning left onto Whitehall street. MTAG had called for a new river crossing so that the trucks could avoid Shepherds bridge area but this was not announced.

What about the Truck Bans?

The report says:

“Implementation of the Truck Action Plan will be complemented by improved enforcement curfews on roads in the inner west including in Kensington, Footscray and Flemington.”

“Building the Hyde St connection alone will not lead to a complete ban of trucks on Francis St and Somerville Rd, as a significant number of trucks associated with the local industry will continue to use this route. The Hyde St connection is estimated to reduce truck numbers on these streets by around 70% or over 5,000 heavy vehicles each week day.”

What else is in the Plan?

There’s a huge amount of projects including rail, roads and public transport in the VTP.  It does include the Westgate Bridge alternative tunnel and the Footscray to Caulfield Metro Train tunnel.

Please see the link to the VTP for more information: http://www4.transport.vic.gov.au/vtp/

So what’s next for MTAG?

• Continue to support the construction of the on/off ramps through lobbying for Commonwealth Funding
• Work to get a route for the new link that has the least impacts on residents and open space including Stony Creek
• Work with people affected by the plans to minimise these impacts where ever possible.
• Ensure that existing truck bans are improved and enforced
• Continue our work to get trucks off residential streets
• Ongoing work to highlight the health impacts of diesel emissions

History of Truck Traffic in Melbourne’s Inner West

‘The trucks have always been here.’ Really?

One of the central arguments used to counter MTAG’s mission to get through-trucks off the streets of the inner west is, ‘The trucks have always been here.’ While it’s true the inner west has an industrial heritage, and truck traffic is part and parcel of this heritage, the volumes of truck traffic that we see today (currently 21,000 per day*) have little to do with history. In fact, they have come about as a result of the growth of the Port of Melbourne combined with the mismanagement of the development of new road infrastructure. At least 40% of the 21,000 trucks using the streets of the Yarraville, Footscray, and surrounds each day do not have a destination within the inner west and nearly all of this through-traffic is going to or from the port.

It hasn’t always been like this.

Historically, according to older locals, truck traffic in the inner west was never a big problem and was generally fairly light even on the now notorious Francis St. This is borne out by the design of streets like Francis St, Whitehall St, Somerville Rd, Buckley St and other thoroughfares that presently carry excessive volumes of truck traffic. These streets were obviously never intended for large volumes of truck traffic, they are narrow and lined with houses. They are now constantly under repair, at great expense to the taxpayer, precisely because they are being put to a use for which they were never intended.

So why have truck traffic levels increased so radically?

In the early 1990’s the route that encompasses Francis St Yarraville and Whitehall St Footscray was declared a State Highway and named Docklands Highway. This was seen at the time as a victory of sorts over a VicRoads plan to plough a truck route right through the middle of Footscray and Seddon. Whilst the creation of Docklands Highway was, perhaps rightly, seen as the lesser of two evils at the time, the planners never foresaw the impact the completion of the Western Ring Road and the Bolte Bridge in 1999 would have on truck traffic volumes using Docklands Highway.

Since it opened, the Western Ring Road has funnelled huge numbers of trucks destined for the port onto the Princes Freeway. Before the completion of the Ring Road these trucks used a variety of routes to access the port but after 1999 traffic was focussed onto this one arterial. In itself this is not a bad thing as the Princes Freeway was designed to carry trucks across the Westgate Bridge, onto Bolte Bridge, and then to the port (an extremely efficient route for all but three hours in the morning peak when the Westgate Bridge is congested). Unfortunately, however, vehicles incur a toll on the Bolte Bridge and so truck drivers do everything they can to avoid it. Instead of using Bolte Bridge, they get off the Princes Freeway at Williamstown Rd then travel through Yarraville and Footscray – the ‘Docklands Highway’ – to access the port.

The determination of truck drivers to avoid the CityLink toll is perplexing given that a VicRoads study proved that truck operators would save time, money, and fuel by using CityLink even given the cost of tolls. Even the trucking industry peak body, the Victorian Transport Association, recommends the Westgate/Bolte Bridge route. In a document it produced entitled, The Easy Way, chief executive, Philip Lovel says, “The VTA is always keen to help its members find ways to optimise their operating dollar. The [Westgate] Freeway can offer considerable cost savings through reduced travel times, fewer maintenance costs, reduced accident exposure and improved fuel efficiency.”

Unfortunately though for residents these recommendations have fallen on deaf ears. In fact, in addition to the thousands of eastbound trucks using Yarraville streets, MTAG has been observing increasing numbers of truck drivers travelling westbound over the Westgate Bridge exiting at Williamstown Rd before heading east along Francis St to the port. All this to avoid the Bolte Bridge toll! While MTAG has sympathy with the very human urge to save a buck, each individual decision by a truck driver to use a residential street in the inner west to get to where he or she needs to go is creating hell for thousands of residents.

In 2002 the State Government went some way to recognising that the situation described here was unsustainable when it implemented night-time curfews on Francis St and Somerville Rd Yarraville. But, while this was a step in the right direction these curfews do absolutely nothing to address the number of trucks using Francis St and Somerville Rd during the day when truck numbers are at their highest.

VicRoads also recently implemented bans on trucks in central Footscray, which was another step in the right direction. However, there are still no controls at all on truck traffic in Buckley St Footscray, which has been the site of numerous horrendous accidents involving trucks trying to negotiate the narrow winding street, traffic lights, roundabout, and heavy car traffic

The State Government seems to have no plans to do anything to alleviate these problems, which are set to get much worse. It seems to have dropped its oft stated commitment to get 30% of freight onto rail by 2010 but even if it did achieve this it would have little effect given that container movements at Melbourne Port are projected to increase fivefold over the next 30 years.

Instead of solutions and commitments the Government gives us studies, which until now have invariably lead nowhere. The latest is the Eddington East West needs Assessment that is expected to recommend a major tunnel link joining road networks in east of the city with those in the west. This will, in all likelihood, be ‘sold’ to the residents of the inner west as ‘the solution we have been waiting for,’ but there are many reasons to doubt the veracity of this claim should it eventuate. And even if it does offer a solution it will be at least ten years before anything changes. In the meantime Francis St carries between six and eight thousand trucks every single day and has the highest levels of diesel pollution ever recorded by the EPA.

*VicRoads count 2006

In April of this year MTAG commissioned a study into the impact of truck traffic on residents of the inner west. Approximately 1000 surveys were distributed throughout Yarraville, Kingsville, Seddon, and Footscray. Of these 500 were placed in letterboxes on the major freight routes of Francis St, Somerville Rd, Williamstown Rd and Buckley St. The remaining surveys were distributed through childcare centres, schools and via the MTAG website. Around 300 of these surveys were completed and returned; a number of other surveys came from respondents through the MTAG website.

Now the published results of this Health Survey are available as a download as pdf.

Click to download 889KB pdf.