Western Distributor project: Victorian Government submits business case for $5-5.5b toll road

A FORMAL business case for a new $5-5.5 billion toll road to ease congestion on the West Gate Bridge has been submitted to the Commonwealth with a plea for federal funding.

Traffic conditions leading onto the West Gate bridge

A FORMAL business case for a new $5-5.5 billion toll road to ease congestion on the West Gate Bridge has been submitted to the Commonwealth with a plea for federal funding.

The business case for the Western Distributor has been submitted to Infrastructure Australia and the Turnbull Government, which has been asked to chip in a third of the cost.

Alongside the plan is a business case for the $400 million Monash Freeway widening.

That major project would ease congestion on the Monash Freeway by widening a key section of the road to 10 lanes, saving motorists almost ten minutes on a daily commute into the CBD.

The Western Distributor would join the West Gate Freeway to CityLink, and was proposed by tolling giant Transurban.

The Andrews Government has been assessing the proposal, and has created a business case that shows the cost benefit ratio for the plan.

It is understood that the original Transurban proposal, which was for the Commonwealth to contribute a third of the funding, a third to come from tolls on the new road, and a third to come from extending Transurban’s CityLink tolling deed, is still an option presented in the state business case.

The Western Distributor and the Monash widening project business cases have been developed together, but could be built as separate projects.

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