‘Serious concerns’ over planning for Melbourne’s West Gate tunnel project

MAJOR concerns have come from the nation’s chief infrastructure body about how a second river crossing will help deal with congestion.

MAJOR concerns about how much the State Government’s second river crossing will help deal with congestion have been raised by the nation’s chief infrastructure body.

Infrastructure Australia has spent months chasing documents and modelling for the $5.5 billion West Gate Tunnel, telling a Senate hearing last week they had “substantial concerns” about the project’s business case.

It follows strong criticisms from transport planning consultant William McDougall, who was part of a government peer review of the traffic modelling and cost-benefit analysis.

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He said the figures used to justify the project were flawed because they over-estimated how many motorists would use the new project, which will see the West Gate Freeway widened from eight to 12 lanes, and connected to a new tunnel at the Maribyrnong River and the Port of Melbourne.

The State Government claims the project will save motorists from Melbourne’s west up to 20 minutes.

Infrastructure Australia chief executive Philip Davies told a Senate estimates hearing that the agency met with State Government agencies in July to request “additional material” about the project, its costs and its benefits, which he hoped “to receive in the near future”.

IA project advisory director Jeremy Parkinson said there were a number of “substantial concerns” about the project’s “underlying modelling and detail”.

An artist impression of the West Gate Tunnel Project.

Victorian Greens senator Janet Rice said it was staggering the government was proceeding with the tunnel tollway given Infrastructure Australia’s concerns.

“The Victorian government must come clean. They must give Infrastructure Australia the information they have requested so IA can do their job and complete their assessment of the road. Planning for the tollway must be halted until they do,” Senator Rice said.

Mr Parkinson said he was pleased the State Government had “re-engaged” in discussions on the project but did not know when the extra information would be forthcoming.

“The work that we have asked for is fairly complex,” he said. “It’s not unreasonable that they will take some time to address the questions that we have asked, some of them are difficult questions.”

But he said the government had not said whether it was willing to wait for the completion of the independent assessment before signing contracts to build the West Gate Tunnel. The Andrews Government decided to fund the project without support from the Commonwealth.

Victorian Roads Minister Luke Donnellan said the project modelling had already been “exhaustively examined” which showed that it “stacks up”, with a return of $1.30 for every dollar invested.

“More than a dozen independent experts with decades of experience worked on the modelling for this project -- their work is world class and unequivocally supports building the West Gate Tunnel,” Mr Donnellan said.

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