FREMANTLE’S FUTURE AS TRUCK CITY

A report by Professor Peter Newman and Research Fellow Cole Hendrigan of the Curtin University of Sustainable Policy- CUSP has concluded that the $ 1.6 billion road freight link from Kewdale to Fremantle will be a waste of taxpayers’ money and will harm the City of Fremantle.

Newman and Hendrigan say that the number of trucks passing through Fremantle would increase fivefold and would make Freo into “Truck City.” They argue that the money would be better spent on a rail and road connection to a new port in Cockburn Sound since Fremantle Port will reach capacity to deal with containers in 10 to 15 years.

The planned new toll road will also split communities in half and create a huge bottleneck and traffic congestion in North Fremantle, the Road2Rail group has warned, but unfortunately indications are the Federal Government will increase its funding for the truck tollroad to offset GST losses Western Australia is making.

Roel Loopers