West Gate Tunnel faces fifth legal challenge,putting even more pressure on one of the Andrews government’s signature infrastructure projects which is already running at least two years late.
The tolling giant building the West Gate Tunnel claims the cost of the project has blown out by a further $1 billion to a total of $11 billion,more than double the original estimate.
The Victorian Ombudsman is probing the Andrews government amid allegations it is failing to alleviate worsening truck traffic in Melbourne’s inner-west caused by a new toll road,the $6.7 billion West Gate Tunnel.
Builders of the $16 billion North East Link underestimated tree canopy loss by as much as 80 per cent,a secret government-commissioned audit of the toll road reveals.
Big transport projects have blown out by $3.8 billion in just two years,with the state government saying the increase mirrors what’s happening internationally.
The federal government’s pandemic recovery package includes funds for a massive new freight terminal designed to remove thousands of trucks from Melbourne’s clogged roads every day.
Hume is the latest council to pursue Planning Minister Richard Wynne in the Supreme Court over plans to dump 3 million tonnes of soil contaminated with potentially carcinogenic chemicals.
Brimbank mayor Ranka Rasic said the Calder Freeway needed works to safely accommodate the booming population in Melbourne’s fringe.
MairiAnne and Iona Mackenzie first took the government to court in 2016 to stop the acquisition of part of their land and the felling of historic trees. On Wednesday,all their grounds for appeal were rejected.
The size of Victoria’s infrastructure pipeline has more than doubled since Premier Daniel Andrews took power in 2014,growing to nearly 100 projects and costing taxpayers a total of $81 billion.
Bacchus Marsh landfill site Maddingley Brown Coal is the latest to be approved to receive huge amounts of toxic rock and soil from the controversial project.