“This has been a thorough and rigorous process, and both the Government, through the Western Distributor Authority, and Transurban deserve congratulations for the way they’ve reached out to the community to identify and respond to environmental impacts and concerns.
“This positive outcome also underlines the success of appointing the lead contractor early, enabling the concept design to be exhibited as part of the EES – the helpfulness of which is acknowledged by Planning Minister Richard Wynne in his assessment.
“With the passing of this milestone, the community can now look forward to final approvals and an expected commencement of works in 2018.”
Mr Stuart-Watt says the West Gate Tunnel Project is one of Melbourne’s most important transport infrastructure projects of recent decades, and will help secure the city’s liveability status by removing trucks from local roads, reducing congestion and improving journey reliability for motorists and freight operators.