Over the coming months, drivers and locals working and living in the inner west may notice a very tall crane working near the West Gate Freeway outbound between Millers Road and the Newport Railway Line.
At 65m high, this tower crane will be building the tunnels ventilation structure for the outbound tunnel exit. In the coming months, crews will be focussed on pouring concrete to form the walls of the structure, which will increase 3m a time.
The finished ventilation structure will be 50m high, and together with the outbound exit, feature a design inspired by the history of the area – from the shapes of traditional Aboriginal canoes and modern boat hulls, to the form of the nets and traps used to catch eels – historically an important Aboriginal food source.
As one of two tunnels in this project, both tunnels will take traffic underground from the West Gate Freeway to the Maribyrnong River and on to an elevated road at Footscray Road.
When completed, cars and trucks will enter the citybound tunnel from the Freeway west of Williamstown Road and exit near the Maribyrnong River in Footscray. To travel to the west, vehicles will enter the tunnel near the Maribyrnong River and exit at the westbound exit along the Freeway, just east of Millers Road.
Based on feedback from community and council during the development of the project, the outbound tunnel exit and ventilation structure was moved further away from existing houses and is being built alongside industrial land which will later be turned into open space.
The project’s ventilation system has been designed to meet Victoria’s stringent air quality requirements, which are among the highest standards in the world. The system has been designed to ensure a high air quality is maintained inside the tunnel, and to manage emissions from current and future traffic volumes.
When complete the West Gate Tunnel Project will transform Melbourne’s west, providing a vital alternative to the West Gate Bridge and removing more than 9000 trucks from residential streets.
It will also deliver more reliable journeys for more than 200,000 drivers who use the West Gate Freeway each day.