WESTERN Australia’s Main Roads department issued a blunt warning to a room full of supply chain representatives that any incident during the 12-month closure of the Fremantle Traffic Bridge was likely to cause gridlock.
Paul Stuchbury
Paul Stuchbury from the Office of Major Transport Infrastructure Delivery, Main Roads WA, told an audience of around 100 at the Swan Yacht Club, East Fremantle on Wednesday afternoon that the first works had started on the bridge which would not be closed until workers were ready to pull it down in a bid to minimise the impact on traffic.
With the bridge closed, probably from February, access by road to and from the Port of Fremantle would be congested.
Several speakers at the seminar organised by the Freight & Trade Alliance and the Container Transport Alliance Australia urged rail as an option. Others in the room were concerned that rail would not be cost-competitive.
Mr Stuchbury said 25 intersections were being modified, signals changed, and Bluetooth cameras installed to enable instant changes to be made.
As well as making north-south traffic flow a priority, efforts were being made to reduce non-essential road users at peak times, and the public would be encouraged to make use of increased public transport.
Government departments had all been encouraged to bring forward or delay roadworks while the bridge was being replaced.
FTA’s Amanda Bradfield also warned that Chinese New Year, traditionally a busy time for freight would put additional pressure on port traffic.
Responding to questions from the audience Mr Stuchbury conceded the impact on traffic volumes would be minimal.
“AM and PM peak periods will be long and there will be delays,” he said.
“All the modifications we could possibly make, we are making. We are throwing everything at it,” Mr Sutchbury said.
Promoting rail as an option Gavin Bignell, CEO of WATCO Australia and Adam Lebihan, Vice President Intermodal, Intermodal Group said there was plenty of capacity on rail from North Quay to move containers to inland terminals, which could be done on the day of arrival in port if necessary.
Sue Hellyer from the Department of Transport said the state government would extend its rail freight subsidies to include all rail freight during the bridge closure.
Jamie Allardice from Fremantle Ports asked the audience what the barriers were to using rail?
Speed of delivery and cost were the main concerns. Mr Allardice felt the economics of rail would change as soon as the bridge was closed.