Minister signs off West Gate Tunnel EES

Minister signs off West Gate Tunnel EES

By Sunny Liu

Planning Minister Richard Wynne has signed off West Gate Tunnel’s Environmental Effects Statement (EES) with minor changes suggested for the project.

In his assessment of the road project, Mr Wynne recommends lowering the proposed elevated Wurundjeri Way extension to create a levelled intersection between Dynon Rd and Wurundjeri Way.

In the alternative design, the full signalisation at the interchange will cause delays to vehicles travelling to the south and will likely reduce traffic volume on Wurundjeri Way.

The existing V/Line stabling facility under the proposed elevated extension just east of Dynon Rd will be relocated further west, enabling the extension to be substantially lowered.

Reducing the above-ground height from 10 to 2.6 metres can also facilitate future residential and rail projects at Docklands’ neighbour, E-Gate.

Mr Wynne also said it would potentially make better future connections from Wurundjeri Way to E-Gate and North and West Melbourne.

A possibly shorter ramp to pedestrian and cycling routes will also improve accessibility between North Melbourne (to be changed to West Melbourne) station, E-Gate and Docklands.

The District Docklands’ owner Ashe Morgan made a submission to the West Gate Tunnel Independent Advisory Committee (IAC) in September, arguing that the elevated Wurundjeri Way extension would preclude a valuable connection between Docklands and North Melbourne.

Mr Wynne says the lowered extension, being 2.6 metres above ground, was “consistent with the requests made by Ashe Morgan”.

Mr Wynne says he believed the lowering of the Wurundjeri Way extension would have “negligible implications” for traffic and transport.

However, the overpass’s height reduction could create further delay to the Dynon Rd link traffic in both directions by increasing crossing time by between 15 and 26 seconds per vehicle during peak hours.

Mr Wynne acknowledges that, from a safety perspective, an overpass would be more preferable than an intersection at this location.

Nonetheless, the inconvenience caused by the levelled spaghetti connection of Wurundjeri Way and Dynon Rd is a small win for Docklands by potentially diverting traffic away from Wurundjeri Way and reducing the number of cars travelling into Docklands.

Further discussion and information from the Western Distributor Authority is required before the design changes are finalised.

More information can be found on planning.vic.gov.au/environment-assessment/projects/west-gate-tunnel-project

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