The first part of the West Gate Tunnel Project opens on Monday. Here’s what you need to know

3 hours ago 5

The first element of the much-delayed West Gate Tunnel Project will open on Monday morning, providing a direct route between Docklands and Melbourne’s west.

The 1.4-kilometre extension of Wurundjeri Way in Docklands will connect Dynon Road in Footscray to Flinders Street in Docklands, creating the first new city bypass in 25 years.

Premier Jacinta Allan has announced the opening of bypass Wurundjeri Way.

Premier Jacinta Allan said the new bypass could take more than 5000 vehicles off CBD roads a 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.

“It’s a great thing that more and more people are choosing to live in Melbourne’s western suburbs... and we’re building those communities – and these better, stronger connections – to help people get home safer and sooner,” she said at a press conference, alongside a slew of western suburbs MPs, on Sunday.

The $10.2 billion West Gate Tunnel Project, which connects the West Gate Freeway in Yarraville to CityLink in Docklands, was originally scheduled to be completed in 2022.

Allan said the rest of the project was on track to open sometime in December following the launch of the Metro Tunnel the same month. A specific launch date has not been provided for either project.

On Tuesday, The Age published the findings of a new engineering report, which said thousands of inner-west residents would be at risk of breathing in unsafe levels of truck pollution as a result of the tunnel project.

The report, commissioned by the Maribyrnong Truck Action Group, suggested the tunnel’s twin ventilation stacks prioritised sleek design over good engineering and would not prevent noxious fumes from reaching nearby homes.

The group argued the West Gate Tunnel – which the Victorian government partnered with Transurban to deliver — should not operate without pollution filters being installed on the 50-metre vents that sit next to the underground tollway in Yarraville and Altona North.

In response, Roads Minister Melissa Horne released a statement on Wednesday claiming the article was “disinformation”.

She said independent assessments had found that the project would improve air quality in the inner west and that the Health Department concluded the potential impacts from tunnel emissions would be a low risk to human health.

Horne confirmed on Sunday that the new report, by consultancy Synergetics, had now been provided to the government and the Environment Protection Authority.

“I know [the EPA] are going through their independent processes to be able to ensure that what they found … back in 2016 is accurately reflected in the build now,” she said.

The new Wurundjeri Way extension, which links to Dynon Road.

“Nowhere in all of Australia has ventilation stacks that have got filtration.

“So what we do is we take the advice of our independent chief scientist and, of course, we respond to that accordingly, and that is the way that we have built this project.”

Parts of the West Gate Tunnel Project will be open to the public on Sunday, November 16, when people are invited to run or walk through the tunnel as part of a “discovery day” – “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to explore the tunnel before it opens to traffic in December”, according to the government.

Air quality data will be published monthly on the EPA website from the end of November.

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