West Gate Distributor

Labor promised to have contracts for the West Gate Distributor project signed within six months of forming government following the 2014 state election, and said the road would be completed by 2018.

[2] The project would have involved the construction of new lanes on a section of the West Gate Freeway and on-ramps and off-ramps connecting to a new elevated road along Hyde Street, Yarraville.

[7] An artist's representation of the road contained in the Project 10,000 public document showed a two-lane off-ramp for eastbound freeway traffic, located east of the Westgate golf course and Williamstown railway line.

[9] Labor's plan was based on a proposal in Sir Rod Eddington's 2008 East-West Link Needs Assessment report,[10] which had recommended the implementation of a Truck Action Plan that would include a new link from the West Gate Freeway to the port via Hyde Street in a bid to reduce truck movements on Francis Street and Somerville Road.

[10] Western suburbs advocacy group LeadWest has claimed the bypass could backfire, pushing more trucks on to residential streets in Yarraville and Footscray.

[3] The RACV has criticised the lack of detail in the government's announcements on the project, expressing concern over the potential for traffic confusion resulting from a "spaghetti junction" of ramps between Williamstown Road and the West Gate Bridge.

[16][20][21] The Herald Sun has reported that documents prepared by unnamed "environmental agencies" show the construction area is contaminated by dangerous materials including demolition waste that would require cleaning up and delay the project.

Stony Creek in Yarraville, which would be crossed by a new West Gate Bridge off-ramp as part of the proposed West Gate Distributor.
Heavy vehicles at the southern end of Whitehall Street, which would form part of the West Gate Distributor route to the Port of Melbourne. The West Gate Bridge is in the background.