The Greens have threatened to join forces with the state opposition to scuttle the state government’s $5.5 billion Western Distributor unless more information is released, western suburbs MP Colleen Hartland has warned.
The new toll road – a major alternative to the West Gate Bridge via twin tunnels beneath Yarraville and a new Maribyrnong River crossing – has sparked a long-running battle over transparency.
Ms Hartland said the Greens would not rule out siding with the Coalition to block the proposed extension of Transurban’s toll concession on CityLink for up to 12 years, which is a major element of the toll operator’s unsolicited pitch to build the new distributor road.
She said 12 more years of tolls on CityLink, and a doubling of truck tolls from April, will push more trucks onto local roads in the inner-west.
“We are not on lock-step with the Libs; they have not approached us, but we are concerned about the lack of transparency both with us and with the community.”
Treasurer Tim Pallas said the Western Distributor is a desperately needed second river crossing that will create a long-overdue alternative to the West Gate Bridge.
“Contracts are set to be signed by the end of the year, with the new tunnel and freeway completed, and slashing traffic congestion, by 2022,” he said.
“We expect that building a second river crossing and taking thousands of trucks off inner west streets will have support across the political spectrum.”
The state government released its business case on the project in 2015, but Ms Hartland said it had left many questions about the project unanswered.
“Transurban are going to make a massive amount of money out of this but the government are not committed to transparency on the project.”
