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Truck curfews and the Inner West

Truck curfews let trucks know when they can use certain roads, so we can find a balance between the needs of the local community and local truck operators.

Project update - April 2022

Melbourne’s inner west is a vibrant, thriving and growing residential area, and a significant industrial and freight corridor that connects to Australia's largest port.

The Victorian Government is investing in infrastructure and development in Melbourne’s west, including some $20 billion in transformational programs to create a better place to live, work and raise our families.

This means creating more direct freight connections for cleaner, greener trucks, shifting more freight to rail, and streamlining access to the port to meet our growing freight task.

The West Gate Tunnel will introduce further truck bans across the inner west and remove over 9000 trucks per day from local streets.

Heavy vehicles delivering essential items to retail premises will be exempt from truck curfews until 30 June 2022.

The truck curfew exemption has been reinstated, helping supermarkets and pharmacies meet high demand, particularly as pressures on the supply chain increase due to staff shortages, where drivers are missing delivery cut-off times and are having to wait until the following day to be able to deliver.

Curfews will not be enforced for truck drivers engaged in the delivery of food items or personal hygiene products to retail premises.

The exemption applies until 30 June 2022 and will be reviewed will be reviewed in line with public health advice and engagement with industry.

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator is continuing to monitor and enforce compliance in curfew areas, with officers using their discretion in relation to heavy vehicles parked near distribution centres and supermarkets. Enforcement will continue to apply in those instances where there is a safety risk.

Inner West Truck Curfews

The Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) is working with local government, industry and the community to clarify existing curfews and restrictions for trucks moving through Melbourne’s inner west.

A significant number of trucks travel through the inner west on their way to and from the Port of Melbourne, as well as for local deliveries.

To reduce impacts on the local community, particularly in terms of truck noise and emissions, time and mass-based curfews and restrictions have been in place on local roads throughout the inner west since 2015.

With West Gate Tunnel works underway and ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on the supply chain and freight network effecting how freight moves around the network, it’s timely to make sure all road users understand what the restrictions mean for them.

We’ve taken the following steps to make the restrictions clearer, protecting local amenity and air quality, and improving safety for everyone:

  • created a simple guide [PDF 554 Kb] to educate truck drivers about where and when they can travel through Melbourne’s inner west, and help industry better plan their journey to the Port 
  • preparing to install additional signage on key routes within the inner west  
  • preparing to install traffic monitoring cameras to capture data on compliance and ensure the ongoing safety and amenity for the community

These actions will also assist DTP to continue to develop a regulatory and enforcement framework for trucks in the inner west post-opening of West Gate Tunnel.

Key details of restrictions

  1. Somerville Road - No trucks 8pm-6am weeknights and 1pm Saturday to 6am Monday. No trucks 8-9.30am and 2.30-4pm Monday to Friday (school days only). No A or B-double trucks or PBS truck-and-dog combinations, 24 hours a day, seven days a week (over-size over-mass vehicles excepted).
  2. Francis Street - No trucks 8pm-6am weeknights and 1pm Saturday to 6am Monday. No trucks 8-9.30am and 2.30-4pm Monday to Friday (school days only). 
  3. Moore Street - No trucks 8pm-6am weeknights and 1pm Saturday to 6am Monday Curfew does not apply to trucks from Businesses operating in the declared industrial area in Brooklyn and Tottenham which are exempt under a Gazette notice.
  4. Hyde Street - North of Francis St: No trucks 24 hours a day, seven days a week. South of Francis St: No trucks 8pm-6am weeknights and 1pm Saturday to 6am Monday. 
  5. Whitehall Street - No trucks 8pm-6am weeknights and 1pm Saturday to 6am Monday. 
  6. Williamstown Road - High Productivity Freight Vehicles may operate on Williamstown Road under a permit. Access is considered on a case-by-case basis.
  7. Napier Street Bridge structure has a height clearance of 4m in the eastbound direction and 4m in the westbound direction.

Victoria’s truck curfew map shows roads across Victoria that have time or mass access restrictions for trucks, including local roads.

Visit VicTraffic for current/short term road closures, traffic alerts, roadworks and detours, or events causing road closures and/or detours.

Moore Street exemption

The driver of a truck may drive past any ‘no trucks’ sign located on, or applying to, Moore Street, Footscray, for deliveries or pickups on Moore Street - drivers must have evidence that they are driving to or returning from a delivery in the curfew area.

Napier Street Bridge

The Napier Street bridge structure has a height clearance of 4 metres in the eastbound direction and 4 metres in the westbound direction. For more information see the height clearance on roads page.

In response to community concerns about the safety of Napier Street Bridge, the protection barriers on the bridge were realigned to reduce the risks of a heavy load being dislodged and becoming a hazard to pedestrians and other road users.  

Enforcement

Truck curfews are monitored by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) Safety and compliance Officers’ patrol to support compliance and enforce penalties for non-compliance.

The on the spot fine for disobeying a ‘no trucks’ sign is $161. If a driver chooses to contest this fine in court, they could be fined up to $484.

We work closely with the freight industry and local businesses to educate and inform them of the curfews and alternative routes. Signs are in place on local roads and the surrounding road network to let drivers know about the curfews and allow them to plan their trips.

More information

Find out more about this initiative by viewing the information on a variety of topics below or by emailing [email protected]