Motorists travelling into the city from Melbourne’s west or Geelong are expected to save up to 20 minutes on their journey, but it will come at a cost.
A trip through the tunnel will set motorists back $4.09 for a car and $6.54 for a ute or van, and more than double that if they exit into the CBD’s west during the morning peak.
As part of a thank-you deal to motorists and residents in the area who have endured years of construction chaos and road closures, travel will be free on weekends in January.
Transurban is paying for $6.1 billion of the West Gate Tunnel’s construction costs in exchange for operating tolls on the new road and a 10-year extension to its CityLink contract, which will deliver billions in additional toll revenue until 2045.
The tolling giant successfully pitched the West Gate Tunnel to the Andrews government in 2014. Major construction began in early 2018 and was meant to be completed by September 2022.
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But the project, which extends from the West Gate Freeway in Yarraville to CityLink in Docklands, was plagued by the discovery of toxic soil and a legal stand-off between the state government, Transurban and the project’s builders, which contributed to delays and a $3.4 billion budget blowout.
Residents in the city’s west will be relieved the project is finally open but remain sceptical about its promise to cut the number of trucks on their roads.
Last month the Allan government announced a curfew would result in trucks being banned from using Williamstown Road from 8pm to 6am, and from 8pm on Fridays until 6am on Mondays.
The announcement came after modelling produced for the project in 2017 predicted that truck traffic would roughly double to 4700 heavy vehicles a day on Williamstown Road by 2031.
A significant increase in traffic is also expected in West Melbourne, North Melbourne, Docklands and other areas to the CBD’s north, which has prompted concerns about safety and inner-city liveability.
The West Gate Tunnel during construction in December 2024.
To discourage traffic flowing into the inner-city, an additional toll of $6.54 for cars and $10.47 for utes and vans will apply to use the exits into Footscray Road, Wurundjeri Way and Dynon Road between 7am and 9am on weekdays.
West Gate Tunnel tolls are separate to existing CityLink tolls, meaning a car driver will pay $10.63 to travel through the tunnel and continue on the Tullamarine Freeway to Melbourne Airport.
All tolls are set to increase on January 1.
Tolls of up to $178 will apply to heavy vehicles each day on the new road, with a grace period before companies will be fined if their trucks breach the local road curfew.
More than 50,000 people flocked to the West Gate Tunnel Discovery Day last month for a tour of the long-awaited infrastructure project.
More to come
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