No emergency on West Gate Bridge
Posted
The Westgate Bridge to the west of Melbourne, October 2008. (ABC News: Giulio Saggin, file photo)
Emergency lanes will be removed on Melbourne's West Gate Bridge in a Victorian Government bid to increase traffic volume by up to 50 per cent.
The Roads Minister, Tim Pallas says the emergency stopping lanes will be opened up to traffic and new barriers will be built on the edge of the bridge.
"Instead of emergency stopping lanes, a traffic management system will ensure that in the event of a breakdown we'll be able to close lanes and redirect traffic so we'll get better utility out of the existing infrastructure," he said.
The proposal forms part of the Government's, yet to be released, transport strategy.
Mr Pallas says the Westgate plan will allow the bridge to carry 50 per cent more vehicles, while reducing crashes by 20 per cent.
The State Opposition has scoffed at suggestions the plan won't compromise safety.
The Opposition's Transport spokesman, Terry Mulder says the width of the other lanes will need to be reduced.
"What we're being asked to swallow today is that by narrowing the lanes it will be safer - what a load of hog-wash," he said.
"A mother up there with children going to and from school surrounded by trucks that are wobbling backwards and forwards in high winds, would you say they're going to be safer? Of course they're not."
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ABC News Online takes a look at the big stories from 2008.
