Melbourne gets a new city bypass for the first time in 25 years

The new Wurundjeri Way extension is set to open in Docklands at the end of the month as part of the West Gate Tunnel Project.

Minister for Transport Infrastructure Gabrielle Williams has confirmed that the new road will open to traffic on Monday, October 27. The Wurundjeri Way extension will link Dynon Rd in West Melbourne to Wurundjeri Way in Docklands.

The extension aims to reduce the number of cars relying on Spencer and King streets, and will have the capacity to carry more than 10,000 vehicles a day upon opening, increasing to around 15,000 once the tunnels and elevated Footscray Rd are completed.

Since construction began, crews have built a new bridge over Dudley St and a 1.5-kilometre, four-lane connection to Dynon Rd. In addition, Wurundjeri Way has been widened to six lanes between Dudley St and Flinders Street to increase capacity.

The Wurundjeri Way extension will provide motorists with another option for travelling to events at Marvel Stadium and will also help improve access to and from Docklands where more than 73,000 people work and some 17,500 people live.

Minister Williams said, “the Wurundjeri Way extension is Melbourne’s first new city bypass in 25 years – and it’s set to give drivers more choice, better connect the west, and take pressure off some of the CBD’s busiest streets.”

The new link will also provide access to the West Gate Tunnel when it opens later this year, making it easier to venture west, including Werribee, Geelong and the Surf Coast.

“Melbourne’s newest CBD bypass will give thousands of drivers in Melbourne’s west more reliable and direct journeys, with less time in the car and more time doing the things they love,” the Member for Footscray Katie Hall said.

However, stakeholders have raised concerns over how effective the bypass will be, particularly due to no changes being made to the southern end where Wurundjeri Way meets Flinders Street.

Digital Harbour Holdings executive director, David Napier, does not believe that the bypass will be effective.

Mr Napier is developing Docklands mega-project “Elysium Fields” alongside Tim Gurner and said that the new bypass is going to cause a “logjam” rather than improve traffic flow and take cars off Spencer and King streets.

“All they’re going to do is dump a whole lot of traffic off the West Gate Tunnel into Wurundjeri Way, and it’s just going to bank up,” he said.

“Wurundjeri Way is not capable of handling this volume unless there’s a proper outlet. Right now, it has nowhere to go at the south end. It doesn’t connect to any major road network, so we’re just pushing people back into gridlock.” •