Politics
West Gate Tunnel redirects traffic north, bypassing Flemington study areas
Flemington residents outside the defined study boundary encounter projected City Link volume growth without the detailed assessments applied to zones further south.
How we reported this
The West Gate Tunnel Project policy redistributes daily vehicle movements from the West Gate Bridge corridor toward northern routes that reach the fringe of central Melbourne. This places additional pressure on sections of City Link adjacent to Flemington, an area the 2017 Flemington Association submission identified as lying beyond the project study area ending at Racecourse Road.
Why the redistribution matters now
Policy documents from the period forecast a 67 percent rise in freight task measured in tonne-kilometres by 2031. The same documents anticipated that between 55,000 and 67,000 vehicles per day would shift onto routes emerging near Flemington and Travancore. Local advocates note that these movements occur on infrastructure already carrying 98,000 to 120,000 vehicles daily at the northern boundary.
Comparisons within the submission highlight that Flemington and Travancore sit outside the formal study area used for environmental effects statements. Neighbouring sections inside that boundary received dedicated noise, air quality and traffic modelling, while the adjacent communities north of Racecourse Road did not.
Daily implications for local households
City Link traffic volumes at the northern boundary were projected to rise by about 29 percent, reaching 126,000 to 155,000 vehicles per day by 2031. The freight share within that stream was expected to increase from around 5 percent to 15 percent. Residents along the Moonee Ponds Creek corridor therefore face higher numbers of heavy vehicles passing close to homes, schools and parkland without additional mitigation measures identified in the original assessments.
The Flemington Association submission, lodged on 10 July 2017 by president Les Potts, called for further studies on noise, air pollution and waterway effects. It argued that these impacts could exceed those recorded for the earlier East West Link eastern section proposal in some locations.
Next steps involve the Inquiry and Advisory Committee considering the submission alongside other community inputs before final design decisions. Updated modelling released since 2017 will determine whether the original volume forecasts materialise and whether additional controls are required for the sections serving Flemington.