Following the release of a comprehensive truck survey into truck movements in the inner west, the Napthine government says it is looking at an expansion of truck curfews.The truck survey was carried out by VicRoads and the City of Maribyrnong.
Read the report here: http://consult.vicroads.vic.gov.au/trucksinwest
There is also a video: http://youtu.be/H63NpCwEnpo
The survey has found, at no surprise to local residents, that up to 62% of trucks using our roads are ‘through trucks’, i.e. trucks without a local destination that are simply cutting through our neighbourhoods.
The survey also found:
- Container trucks are the most commonly observed truck type on most roads in the area. Tankers are the predominant truck type on Hyde Street south of Francis Street; and
- Truck volumes were observed to be significantly lower on Somerville Road and Francis Street at night due to truck curfews.
Again this is of no surprise to locals who have been calling out for extended curfews and bans on ‘through trucks’ for over a decade.
The good news out of this survey is that the state government seems to have taken notice. The Napthine government is quoted in The Age as saying they will “investigate a selective expansion of curfews across the road network and investigate routes for through truck movement displaced by those curfews.” MTAG’s Scott Adams is quoted in the article.