THE NEW Fremantle traffic bridge will open ahead of schedule on 1 November, delivering long‑awaited relief for freight operators who have spent two years navigating diversions, bottlenecks and unpredictable travel times around the Swan River Crossings project.
The Australian and WA governments confirmed the opening date in a joint statement, marking the end of a prolonged period in which Stirling Bridge carried the full north–south heavy‑vehicle load following the closure of the old Fremantle traffic bridge.
Transport operators reported longer travel times, peak‑hour congestion and reduced predictability on approaches to Tydeman Road, Stirling Highway and the Inner Harbour.
For industry, the early opening is welcome and according to Western Roads Federation CEO Cam Dumesny, it reflects a growing capability within Main Roads to deliver major projects at pace.
“Credit to Main Roads on this one,” Mr Dumesny said. “They did the same with the Fitzroy River Bridge, built that in 10 months from when it was washed out. They’re starting to show they can get major projects done in a hurry, which is great.”
While the bridge shutdown created unavoidable disruption, Mr Dumesny said the operation was “relatively smooth” thanks to targeted collaboration between government and industry.
“It had its bumps and disruptions, and things certainly could have been done better,” he said. “A lot of credit’s got to go to John Park from the Freight & Trade Alliance and Neil Chambers from the Container Transport Alliance Australia (CTAA)— they worked with industry to help mitigate things.”
However, Mr Dumesny said one key opportunity was missed.
“Very disappointed they didn’t look at high‑productivity vehicles off the port. It was an ideal opportunity to trial that. There’s some good that’s been built, but there are certainly things that could have been done better.”
Mr Dumesny said the case for high‑productivity freight vehicles remains strong.
“It’s an absolutely logical decision. The community is on‑side, they support it. It reduces emissions, it’s more efficient, it reduces the number of trucks on the road. It ticks every box. We just need to change our mindset from ‘mode shift’ to efficient freight systems.”
The early opening of the new bridge was also welcomed by CTAA director Neil Chambers who said Main Roads had done a good job handling traffic and maintaining freight flows.
“The impact was far less than we initially thought,” Mr Chambers said although he agreed with Mr Dumesny that it had been a shame the opportunity to trial high‑productivity freight vehicles had been missed.
The new bridge is designed to restore network balance by returning heavy‑vehicle movements to two river crossings, reducing the funnel effect that has constrained access to Fremantle Port’s container, bulk and general‑cargo terminals.
Industry stakeholders expect the impact to be felt immediately in landside operations. With truck flows redistributed, operators anticipate:
The early completion also allows Main Roads to begin removing temporary traffic controls and reconfiguring approaches installed to stabilise freight flows during the shutdown, including intersection upgrades, signal‑timing changes and incident‑response deployments along Stirling Highway.
Despite the benefits of dual‑crossing access, operators note that North Fremantle’s constrained road network will continue to limit capacity. Freight volumes are growing, and the peninsula’s geometry still restricts options for major expansion.
Mr Dumesny said the issue reflected a broader challenge: WA’s freight system is under increasing pressure from climate risk, network fragility and major infrastructure works.
“There’s just a lack of expertise within the freight areas of the department,” he said. “We’ve identified it for years — even during COVID — that they’re going to need to upskill the department to make it fit for purpose for the challenges we face.”
He said WA’s freight resilience issues extend far beyond Fremantle.
“We’ve got heightened bushfire risk, we’ve got an early wet season. The list goes on. At the end of the day, we’ve only got one sealed road, and two railway lines, and bugger‑all ports. Government really needs to redesign and reform the department to make it fit for purpose for the challenges facing industry and the community we serve.”
Mr Dumesny said the next decade will bring significant disruption as Westport‑related road and freight‑route upgrades roll out across Kwinana and the southern corridor.
“I’ve got a meeting with the Kwinana Industry Council on Thursday,” he said. “We’ve got the big transport operators sitting with them going, ‘How can we shift operations? What can we do?’ Because there’s going to be at least a decade of major disruption on the freight routes in and out of that area.”
“It’s not just Anketell Road, we’ve got Kwinana Freeway being upgraded. There’s going to be a whole lot of work down there for another decade. We’re trying to work as an industry now to find ways of shifting operations around so we’re not stuck in congested traffic.”
Mr Dumesny said the early bridge opening was a positive milestone, but government must now focus on stronger engagement with freight operators as WA entered a period of sustained infrastructure upheaval.
“It’s great to have big projects, that’s good,” he said. “But government’s going to need to more heavily engage with industry on how we mitigate disruptions and how we can make things more efficient.”
The Swan River Crossings project includes future stages to replace the ageing rail bridge and improve active‑transport links. For freight operators, the priority remains ensuring predictable, high‑capacity access to the Inner Harbour as vessel schedules, container volumes and export demand fluctuate.
With the new Fremantle traffic bridge opening on 1 November, the freight sector is preparing for a welcome shift back toward more stable operating conditions, while bracing for the next wave of challenges across WA’s freight network.