THE CONTAINER Transport Alliance Australia (CTAA) has revealed DP World Australia is planning to reconfigure the truck in-gates to its West Swanson Terminal (WST) in Melbourne.
The alliance said the port operator made public the plans, which will see a reconfigure from the current entry point on Coode Road (off Dock Link Road south) to a new in-gate arrangement off Mackenzie Road to the west of the Swanson Precinct.
The reconfiguration will be reportedly be processed in three Phases, from the end of this month and beginning of June, through to the projected opening of the new in-gates in the first quarter of 2026.
The CTAA said it welcomes the plans, as it said the current entry point is prone to truck delays and congestion contributed to by the inadequate road infrastructure in the Port of Melbourne.
The alliance said it understands that the reconfiguration will allow DP World to stack more heavy vehicles inside the entry stages in the Terminal.
“However, the ‘unknown’ at this point will be how the on/off ramps to the West Gate Tunnel (WGT) will perform to/from Mackenzie Road once the WGT infrastructure opens at around the same time as the WST reconfiguration,” the CTAA said.
“CTAA is in close cooperation with Transurban, Major Road Projects Victoria, Port of Melbourne and the Department of Transport & Planning, leading into the opening of the West Gate Tunnel.
“The performance of the access points into and out of the Swanson Precinct are high on the container transport logistics sector’s agenda to discuss and monitor.”
DPWA is reportedly not anticipating that the construction will be as disruptive as was the case last year during the reconfiguration of the truck grids inside the Terminal.
However, the CTAA acknowledged that a sizable portion of the Terminal yard will be taken up while the temporary gate is operational during Phase 2 of the transition, reducing yard capacity, which will likely impact on Terminal productivity and landside efficiencies, it said.
“DPWA is anticipating though that the demand for VBS slots will be put under pressure during the construction phases – something that wharf carriers will need to manage with DPWA as the need arises.”
DP World Australia said in an announcement, “We expect this change to improve traffic flow in the port precinct overall, give carriers easier access to and from the terminal with access to the new West Gate Tunnel ramps, dispense with the congestion that happens at Dock Link Road and Intermodal Way”.
The port, operator mentioned the potential disruptions regarding the changes, asking industry bodies to communicate this throughout their network contacts, specifically noting that change in operations will be required.
“It will no doubt mean the operations of industry partners will be impacted and maybe required to operate at times they ordinarily would not. So this may mean more night shift or weekend work for carriers that operations do not currently factor this in,” it said.
“For those that do, it may mean being flexible enough to change the day of weekend they currently work from Saturday to a Sunday or vice versa. Flexibility and adaptability will be a key strength of carriers over this time.
“The demand on slots at ‘preferred times’ will no doubt increase as the industry seeks to avoid ‘less preferred times’ of operation. Ensuring smooth and brisk movement through the terminal will be the priority to ensure cut offs are met and units do not dwell longer than is necessary.”
The port operator said it would do its best to keep disruption to a minimum.