Motorists drive along Melbourne’s new bypass for the first time

The first city bypass in 25 years has opened, although the initial traffic indicates Melburnians might not have realised yet.

The new 1.4-kilometre Wurundjeri Way flyover was quiet on Monday morning, and safety markers outnumbered cars.

But those who did use the first element of the $10.2 billion West Gate Tunnel Project to open enjoyed panoramic views of the city skyline.

Commuters can now zip from Dynon Road in Footscray to Flinders Street in Docklands in just a few minutes.

However, traffic starts to build at the Flinders Street traffic lights as vehicles on the flyover rejoin the existing Docklands Highway past Marvel Stadium.

On Sunday, Premier Jacinta Allan said the new bypass could take more than 5000 vehicles off CBD roads each day by redirecting traffic away from busy north-south routes, such as Spencer and King streets.

She said the road would provide more options for the 73,000 people who work in Docklands and live in Melbourne’s west.

Few of those people were on the road on Monday.

A flashing hire sign was set up just before the CityLink overpass to alert city-bound motorists on Dynon Road of the new option to turn off onto Wurundjeri Way.

Those who do so arch over Moonee Ponds Creek via a sweeping curve.

The Melbourne Star comes into view before vehicles cross the industrial maze of train tracks which cover West Melbourne.

The overpass peaks at a still-to-be-opened intersection with an offshoot for the West Gate Tunnel, which is due to properly open some time in December – three years late.

In late 2014, toll road giant Transurban secretly pitched the project to the incoming Labor government, and claimed it would reduce congestion on the West Gate Bridge and get port-bound trucks off suburban roads in the inner west.

The company initially estimated the toll road would cost up to $5.5 billion and offered to pay about one-third of the construction cost. Another third would be paid for by a 10-year extension of the CityLink concession.

The Wurundjeri Way extension was quiet on Monday.Credit: Eddie Jim

However, the failure to deal with contaminated soil soon led to delays and fights between the government, builders and Transurban.

The total cost of the project jumped from $6.7 billion to more than $10 billion, with taxpayers covering $1.9 billion of the additional costs.

Inner-west residents are also concerned after a new engineering report published last week said thousands of people would be at risk of breathing in unsafe levels of truck pollution as a result of the tunnel project.

The report suggested the tunnel’s twin ventilation stacks prioritised sleek design over good engineering and would not prevent noxious fumes from reaching nearby homes.

Parts of the tunnel will be open to the public on November 16 as part of a “discovery day” where people can walk through it before it opens to cars.

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