The Issues

Yarraville streets are being used by over 12,000 trucks per day. These trucks impact on our health, safety, well being and the general amenity of our neighbourhood. These trucks pump out their cancerous emissions every day and night into our homes, schools, shops, parks and most alarmingly, into our lungs. The Victorian EPA says "there are no safe levels of exposure to diesel emissions.

image of heavy truck traffic on Francis St street sign for Westgate bridge and Francis Street

People living close to any major road in Yarraville are also exposed to unacceptable noise and safety concerns. These people can't even open a window in their homes for fear of pollution and noise. Imagine not being able to have a conversation on your own front porch or being able to garden in your front yard. Then imagine trying to reverse your car out of your own driveway into a street full of trucks that keep coming day and night.

The argument that the trucks were there first does not stand. Most of the houses in Yarraville were built early last century, well before these trucks were around. Some residents on Francis street have lived there for well over 50 years. The fact remains that trucks are using residential streets that were never designed for carrying such large amounts of heavy vehicles. Often these trucks are transporting dangerous goods such as petroleum products from Mobil, Shell and Caltex and toxic chemicals from Coode Island. This is unacceptable and must change.

The State government has put a weekend and night curfew in place on Francis St. A similar curfew on Sommerville Rd has been in place for a number of years. These curfews, despite being a small step in addressing some of the issues, do absolutely nothing to address the number of trucks using Francis St and Sommerville Rd during the day. The curfew does nothing to protect school children from breathing diesel emissions, nor offer any relief at all to residents during the day when the bulk of heavy diesel traffic occurs.

Since City Link was built the problem with truck numbers has escalated. Many truck drivers are avoiding tolls by cutting through Yarraville's residential streets to access the docks and other areas. This is despite a Vic Road study that proves that truck operators would save time, money and fuel by using City Link even with the cost of tolls.

The Government must act to force these trucks onto appropriate routes such as City Link and other Freeways. A ban on 'through trucks' (those without a local destination) would remove up to 80% of the trucks from Yarraville streets. This simple step would make a huge and positive impact of the lives of thousands of people.