New curfews, speed limits on Victorian roads

The Andrews Labor Government has bowed to community groups to introduce tough new curfews for trucks, which they say will encourage the use of cleaner vehicles and deliver safer conditions for drivers and residents.

Minister for Roads, Road Safety and TAC Jaala Pulford and Minister for Ports and Freight Melissa Horne yesterday (July 9) announced the Smart Freight Partnership – Inner West, a package that will see an Environment Freight Zone established in Melbourne’s inner west.

The zone will cover the freight corridor of Somerville Road and Moore, Francis and Buckley streets, and encourage the use of cleaner trucks.

The new curfews, which will act on top of the existing curfews, mean that trucks manufactured on or after January 1, 2010 that meet Australian Design Rule 80/03 or Euro 5 equivalent will have three hours more access on weekdays than older trucks and two hours more time on Saturdays.

To qualify, operators must use prime movers that have low emission Euro 5 compliant or greater engines.

Exhausts would be fitted with emission control systems, and dangerous goods placarded vehicles required to display highly-reflective tape to increase visibility.

Under the plan, accredited operators would be fitted with GPS technology, and data made available for third party review as an enforcement and compliance tool.

The package will also reduce speed limits to 50km/h along parts of Williamstown Road (north of Francis Street), Francis Street (west of Hyde Street), Buckley Street (between Princes Highway and Nicholson Street) and Moore Street.

Access times to roads within the zone will be cut for older trucks that don’t meet the emission control standards – compared to current access hours, this means a reduction of two hours per day for the first two years, followed by a further two-hour reduction per day in subsequent years.

School crossing curfews will continue to be applied on school days only. Truck operators caught ignoring curfew times can be fined $165 on the spot.

The project is a collaboration between the Labor Government, VicRoads, the Victorian Transport Association, Maribyrnong Truck Action Group and the Maribyrnong City Council.

“We’re closely working with the transport industry to further encourage the use of state-of-the-art, cleaner and quieter trucks, that will benefit both industry and residents in local streets around our ports,” said Minister for Ports and Freight, Melissa Horne.