Freight truck drivers will be charged a toll to use the new $1.5bn Perth freight link. It will be Western Australia’s largest road infrastructure project and will provide a direct freight route from Muchea, just north of Perth, to Fremantle port. At present, the state has no toll roads.
The premier, Colin Barnett, said the link would remove up to 500 vehicles a day from the Leach highway, which runs through several residential suburbs. He said heavy vehicles may possibly be banned from using other routes, but insisted the link would provide them “savings in fuel, time, in wear and tear”.
The Transport Minister, Dean Nalder, said truck drivers would save an estimated nine-and-a-half minutes a trip between the Kwinana freeway and Fremantle, and $8.15 in vehicle operating costs. The federal government is providing 60% of the funding for the project, while the heavy vehicle user charge would recoup part of the state government’s contribution.
