The City of Port Phillip’s officers met with Transurban who have developed an unsolicited proposal to the State Government to build the Western Distributor project. The project has only just commenced discussions with the Port of Melbourne Corporation due to the limitations of the unsolicited bid process which prevents proponents discussing the project prior to submission.
The proposal includes the duplication of Cook Street in the city bound direction from Webb Dock to the Westgate Freeway, all vehicles will still have to travel through the intersection.
In addition the proposal includes the creation of a new dedicated lane linking Cook Street to the Bolte Bridge. This should improve northbound movements. This new link would mean that cars/trucks moving from Todd Road to the Bolte Bridge wouldn’t have to merge onto the Westgate Freeway, although they would still have to move through the intersection of Cook Street/Westgate Freeway.
We would anticipate that the proposal would provide some benefit to local residents and also truck access exiting the port by improving journey times and reducing complexity at intersections.
For further information about the proposal please see Transurban's Western Distributor information page or their have-your-say website which has details of community information sessions to be held in Yarraville, West Melbourne, Spotswood, and Footscray (but not Port Melbourne).