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Trucks will be banned from using key suburban streets in Melbourne's inner west when the Western Distributor road project opens in five years, the State Government says.
The ban will apply to Frances Street and Somerville Road in Yarraville, and Buckley Street and Moore Street in Footscray when the $5.5 billion project is expected to be completed in 2022.
Local Labor MP Wade Noonan said residents had been frustrated by trucks using suburban roads and worried about their families' safety and health.
"Some 5,000 trucks a day use a section of Frances Street to access the port," he said.
"I know residents in the inner west will understand the magnitude of this decision, which will totally transform the local community and obviously make for a much safer community as well, so it's a very positive outcome for them."
Western Distributor proposal short tunnel
PHOTO The Western Distributor will include a new tunnel for trucks to get to the Port of Melbourne more easily.
SUPPLIED: VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT
But Victorian Transport Association (VTA) chief executive Peter Anderson warned consumers would lose out as trucks would be forced to pay a toll to use the West Gate Tunnel to get them to the Port of Melbourne.
"Those costs will naturally be passed down to their customers who will eventually pass down to consumers," he said.
"Very quickly we'll start to see a rise in the cost of transport, we'll start to see rising cost of goods in the shops."
He said the VTA wanted to work with the Government on better management of trucks in the inner west, rather than a ban.
"We have every right to use the road as any other road user has," he said.
"The heavy vehicle industry is a lifeblood for our standard of living to ensure we maintain the services and goods we have on an everyday basis.
"By banning trucks from roads and limiting the access to the port means we're taking a short-term measure for a very small group of people that will affect all of Melbourne and all of Victoria."
Western Distributor overview map
PHOTO The $5.5 billion Western Distributor project is expected to be completed in 2022.
SUPPLIED: VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the decision was fair.
"If you can get your product in to [the Port of Melbourne], if you can get your product to market quicker, then that represents saving," he said.
"If there's a tollway cost along the way, we think that's a fair and balanced outcome."
Roads Minister Luke Donnellan said there had been "extensive consultation" with the VTA over the truck bans.
"We're working with them in relation to the truck bans to ensure that of course we keep the employment that the industry provides, but also make it a more reliable safer and faster journey into the port," he said.
"You'll get some people who'll be frustrated by it, but as an industry they understand that we need them on the major arterials.
"They need a direct route into the port and that has to be paid for one way or another."
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the Government should have planned for other routes for trucks.
"Truck movements need to occur, maybe not on Francis Street [where] they currently happen on but there's no alternative," he said.
"The Government's just announced a ban and there's no alternative."
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