Furious residents say truck ramps above West Gate Freeway ‘too high’

The troubled West Gate Tunnel project continues to draw controversy, with these new pictures drawing the ire of locals.

New images showing how high truck ramps will soar above the West Gate Freeway as part of a new $6.7 billion toll road have reignited calls for barriers along the freight route.

Huge piles for the West Gate Tunnel project’s truck ramps have been dug into the ground in Spotswood and Yarraville, reaching several metres above freeway level.

The scale of the structure, which project builders say will be 11m at their peak, is to enable the ramps to get above rail infrastructure and overhead powerlines before connecting to the existing freeway.

On the northern side the ramps will be 1300m long, connecting freight to Hyde Street in Yarraville rather than sending them via Williamstown Rd and local streets.

On the south side, in Spotswood, the link to Hyde Street will be 520m long, with a shorter and sharper elevated structure currently being built.

Secretary of the Spotswood South Kingsville Residents Group Rosa McKenna said the community had fought for extra noise walls but their calls continue to go unheeded.

Pylons along the edge of the West Gate Freeway off-ramp near Spotswood. Picture: Josie Hayden

How the Hyde St truck ramps will look when the tunnel is completed.

“They (WGT builders) have committed to barriers on the freeway but not on the ramps, which are in front of the freeway,” she said.

“The ramps have to go above the freeway to then merge back down on to it. The community didn’t want it – it’s too high no matter what height it is.”

Work on tunnelling for the beleaguered project has stalled due to a dispute over how to remove and store contaminated soil from the main work site.

Other parts of the project, such as the ramp construction, are continuing in a bid to ensure the road can open by 2024 – which would already be up to two years late.

It is also expected to run billions of dollars over budget, with a further dispute related to who pays.

The view of the pylons from Donald McLean Reserve in Spotswood. Picture: Josie Hayden

The government said there would be significantly lower traffic noise on the truck ramps compared to from the freeway – where there would be noise barriers – because only 1500-1900 trucks a day are expected to travel on the elevated roads.

It also confirmed to Spotswood residents calling for traffic lights where Simcock Ave connects to Hyde St and Douglas Parade that “the intersection will be signalised”.

A spokeswoman said the new ramps being built next to the freeway would give a more direct route to trucks heading to major industrial hubs.

“We’re building two new ramps for the West Gate Freeway to connect trucks directly to local industry and get them off local roads,” she said.