West Gate Tunnel Project: Hea-1 Community Health and Wellbeing
Project/Asset Name: West Gate Tunnel Project
Infrastructure Type: Road Infrastructure
Proponent:
The West Gate Tunnel Project (WGTP) is a city-shaping project that will deliver a vital alternative to the West Gate Bridge, provide quicker and safer journeys, and remove thousands of trucks off residential streets.
The project will include:
- Widening the West Gate Freeway from 8 to 12 lanes and include express lanes between the M80 and the West Gate Bridge, reducing weaving and merging that leads to traffic congestion
- A tunnel from the West Gate Freeway to the Maribyrnong River and the Port of Melbourne which will take motorists and trucks underground and off residential streets, providing a more efficient freight route
- A bridge over the Maribyrnong River, linking to an elevated road along Footscray Road will get people to where they need to go in the CBD North
- State-of-the-art smart technology across the length of the project linking it to other freeway management systems across the city
- Broad landscape improvements
The project is being delivered by the CPB Contractors John Holland Joint Venture (CPBJH JV) on behalf of Transurban and the Victorian Government .
Rating Type: Design and As Built IS version 1.2
Key Stakeholders: Transurban as customer, councils, and aboriginal organisations.
IS Rating Details: Hea-1 credit Level 3 achieved in Design submission.
Location: Victoria
Drivers:
For the year ending 30 June 2016, Melbourne grew by 107,800 people, with much of the growth occurring in Melbourne’s western suburbs. The western region of Melbourne continues to be one of the fastest growing regions of Melbourne due to a combination of urban renewal in the inner suburbs and greenfield residential development in the outer suburbs. Councils that will benefit from the WGTP include:
- Hobsons Bay City Council
- Maribyrnong City Council
- City of Melbourne
- Wyndham City Council
- Brimbank City Council
Effective community and stakeholder engagement and leaving a lasting legacy are core commitments across both joint venture partners, CPB Contractors and John Holland. To achieve Level 3 in Hea-1 both in Design and As Built, CPBJH JV has taken the approach to review each council plans as one method of understanding community sentiment and vision as well as to understand their objectives and targets towards health and wellbeing priority issues.
Through this process, four priority issues have been identified and will be pursued by the WGTP:
- Access to active transport facilities: The project includes the provision of new shared use paths, upgrade of existing shared use paths, a new elevated veloway and pedestrian connections which will support the promotion of sustainable transport options.
- Local businesses: A project of this scale presents a significant opportunity to support local business through the purchase of local goods and services and through promotional campaigns and initiatives.
- Diversity and Social Inclusion: The project will support social and economic inclusion by improving accessibility to employment opportunities, increasing capacity, and facilitating opportunities for all people to participate in the project.
- Community Education of local students: Education equips students with the tools to tackle local challenges, such as environmental issues, public health concerns, and social inequalities. By empowering individuals with knowledge and critical thinking skills, education can lead to innovative solutions tailored to the specific needs of the community.
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