By Luke Voogt
Victorian Liberals are “shamelessly” hindering a “desperately-needed” project for Geelong commuters, according to local State MPs.
Bellarine MP Lisa Neville this week said the planned Western Distributor would end commuters’ reliance on the West Gate Bridge.
The second river crossing would slash congestion, create 5600 jobs and cut 20 minutes off the trip from Geelong to the Melbourne CBD, Ms Neville said.
“While the Liberals failed to even begin one single major road project, we are getting on with building the Western Distributor.”
But State Opposition Leader Matthew Guy has indicated the Coalition will move to block the project in parliament.
Transurban’s bid for the distributor includes a condition that the state extends the company’s ability to collect tolls on CityLink for 12 years.
But the Coalition and the Greens could block toll extensions through their numbers in the Upper House.
Geelong MP Christine Couzens described the Coalition’s opposition to the project as shameless political point-scoring.
“The Liberals need to get out of the way and stop putting thousands of jobs at risk.”
But Coalition MP Andrew Katos described the distributor as “the wrong project that will make traffic on the West Gate Freeway worse”.
“The Western Section of the East West Link is what should be built,” the Member for South Barwon said.
“Like ripping up the East West Link contracts, Daniel Andrews has a history of making deals that are bad for Victorians.”
“Daniel Andrews needs to go back to the drawing board and provide a real alternative that will combat congestion for Geelong commuters.”
