West Gate Tunnel construction means five-year go-slow on freeway

MOTORISTS between Geelong and Melbourne face a five-year go-slow as speeds on a key stretch of the road are slashed 20kmh for West Gate Tunnel construction.

MOTORISTS between Geelong and Melbourne face a five-year go-slow as speeds on a key stretch of the road are slashed 20kmh for West Gate Tunnel construction.

Works to build the $5.5 billion tollway will also see lane sizes crunched and extra trucks on the West Gate Freeway.

A stretch of about 5km from the M80 interchange to near the West Gate Bridge will have the width of lanes reduced, forcing the speed limit down from 100kmh to 80kmh.

With the added pressure of 600 extra trucks a day using the freeway to haul rock and debris from the tunnel excavation, road users could be in for five years of pain.

Project planners are already concerned trucks and cars may opt to skip the freeway and rat run down inner-west streets to avoid roadwork delays.

An artist impression of noise walls for the West Gate Tunnel project.

Construction for the tunnel — which will connect CityLink with the West Gate Freeway — will widen the West Gate Freeway to 12 lanes.

The project’s environmental effects statement said motorists fearful of the narrower lanes and increased truck traffic could hit the brakes, slowing progress to a snarl.

“This can restrict traffic flows and increase congestion. This is particularly likely to occur when heavy commercial vehicles make up a relatively high proportion of vehicles,” the document said.

It also warned truck access to the docks, which tunnel advocates argue will improve when the project is complete, could be hampered.

Roads Minister Luke Donnellan said all lanes would be open at peak times during construction, with the government to provide real-time traffic ­information.

University of Melbourne transport expert John Stone said the project’s own planning documents revealed congestion would return to these levels within 10 years of the road being built.