B-triples set to take city street routes

B-TRIPLE trucks up to 36 metres in length could soon be travelling through Greater Dandenong.
State Government documents obtained by the opposition show the longer, heavier trucks would be driven on the Monash Freeway, South Gippsland Highway and EastLink, as part of a freight transport plan.
Opposition spokesman for transport and roads Terry Mulder said the document showed a B-Triple truck route map that included many roads, freeways and tollways in metropolitan and regional Victoria.
Mr Mulder described the proposed truck route as a State Government “fall back plan” because it had failed to transfer freight to rail as promised.
Mr Mulder said the map omits the alternative of upgrading Victoria’s rail freight network and providing port-rail container shuttles between the Port of Melbourne, Dandenong South, Somerton and Altona/ Laverton.
Premier John Brumby reportedly said an increasing amount of freight needed to be transported, but the State Government was yet to make a decision on B-Triple trucks.
“The challenge that we’ve got is the freight task in Victoria is going to more than double by 2030, so there is going to be a lot more goods being moved and we’ve got to look at the most efficient way of moving them,” said Premier Brumby in a media release.
“With B-Triples, if it means that we’d have less trucks on the road and fewer trucks in local roads, that would be a good thing.”
Premier Brumby had said the government was examining the issue but would consult widely before a decision was taken.