By Alesha Capone
Residents living close to the Princes Freeway in Werribee have expressed disappointment that noise barriers have not been installed as part of the Duncans Road interchange upgrade.
The state government recently announced completion of the interchange project, under the $1.8 billion Western Roads Upgrade.
However, Star Weekly published an article last year, in which a resident called for noise walls to be installed along a section of the freeway near Christina Court and surrounding streets.
The resident said “noise pollution” coming from the freeway was causing “health issues” and “mental fatigue” for him and others in the area.
The man pointed out that the Werribee section of the freeway is the only part of the road without a noise barrier between the West Gate Bridge and Lara.
Another nearby resident (who asked to remain anonymous) recently contacted Star Weekly, questioning why no noise walls had been installed on the freeway during the Duncans Road interchange upgrade.
Both residents have urged Wyndham council to do more noise-level testing in the area.
When the council conducted testing in 2019, the freeway speed limit was lowered to 60 kilometres per hour.
“The acoustic test just fell under the trigger limit (one to two decibels) for immediate installation of sounds walls along all the freeway backing onto suburban streets around the exit,” one of the residents said.
“The acoustic consultant acknowledged that the lowered speed limit most likely impacted the results causing a lower sound reading than if it was under normal conditions.”
The resident also said it was “disappointing” that the state government was prepared to spend $425,000 on a sculpture for the Duncans Road interchange “yet will not pay a dollar to have any noise protection installed”.
“Surely the drastic noise impacting people’s daily lives can be addressed before this,” he said.
A Major Road Projects Victoria spokesperson the new Princes Freeway off-ramp has been built with a noise wall, which complies with VicRoads’ Traffic Noise Reduction Policy 2005.
“Now that the interchange is open to traffic, independent assessments will be undertaken to ensure the noise wall continues to comply with VicRoads requirements,” the spokesperson said.
