Freo bridge has officially closed. What happens next?
When the Fremantle traffic bridge opened in 1939 the press made much noise about the decision to opt for timber construction rather than concrete and steel; At the time, the Labor Willcock government preferred wood because they thought its useful life would end in 60 years anyway.
However, the bridge, which has strengthened the structure with reinforced concrete reinforcement over the years, exceeded the original estimate by 27 years.
Now, starting from this Sunday, the old girl is retiring.
Demolition will begin this weekend to make way for sections of the new $430 million cable-stayed behemoth currently enveloping the site, which will become one of the most iconic river crossings on the Swan River when it opens within 12 months.
But even though the new bridge spans Fremantle harbour, don’t expect a major river crossing in one of Perth’s busiest corners to go smoothly next year.
Another closure?
During her time as Minister of Transport, Rita Saffioti announced several closures of key transport infrastructure in Perth; These include a 20-day closure of the Mandurah line between December 2021 and January 2022 and a one-and-a-half-year closure of the Armadale line to complete the Byford expansion and removal of level crossings.
Currently, the Midland line between Bassendean and Midland is also closed until February 2022 due to the commissioning of the new Midland station.
The Fremantle bridge closure is the longest road network closure undertaken by this government; Saffioti said this was inevitable given the existing bridge alignment between Queen Victoria Streets was the most accepted bridge alignment by locals.
“When everyone supported this regulation, they knew it involved closing the existing traffic bridge,” he said at the site on Friday.
“A lot of work has been done over the past 18 months but we would like to once again apologize for any impending disruption.”
Saffioti said he was “very confident” the new bridge would be open by February next year.
“The reason we chose this bridge design…the very, very complex design and structure allowed us to do as much as possible off-site, and that’s what we did.”
Where will the pinch points be?
The 12-month removal of the Fremantle Traffic Bridge will have consequences for the entire road network in Fremantle and North Fremantle, but it is the Stirling Highway bridge that has the government most concerned.
That’s why there have been major changes to the road network, many of which came into effect last week.
A large part of this is to redirect traffic north-south over the Stirling Highway bridge as quickly as possible; therefore the government abolished east-west travel along the Canning Highway at the Stirling Highway junction.
The state has high hopes of convincing commuters to ditch their cars altogether, so they have planned more bus services to schools in the western suburbs, as well as extra Transperth bus services that will be prioritized at junctions.
They have also allowed bikes on the Fremantle line during peak hours to help tackle the lack of bike and pedestrian access during this period and built a further 100 cars at Fremantle Station, which will be free.
Saffioti also strengthened the government’s record on moving freight by rail; This increased the freight to and from the port from 13 percent to 26 percent, he said.
Who isn’t convinced?
Shadow Transport Secretary Steve Martin said the opposition understood there would be disruption but the test would be whether local people felt everything possible had been done to mitigate the impacts.
“The Minister’s one-sentence plan on freight, ‘work with industry to discuss options’ and non-numerical broad strokes about increased rail use point to a lack of preparation. We know they met with the trucking industry for the first time late last year,” he said.
“We know local people are concerned about frustrated commuters ‘rat running’ through the suburbs. Has anything been done to address this?
“The Minister has consistently failed to provide us with specific modeling data such as the total weekday capacity of the Stirling Bridge, how many cars are planned to be diverted to public transport and what the expected impact on rush hour car journey times will be. “It seems they don’t know.
“Repeating ‘Fremantle is still open for business’ is not the plan. Fremantle’s small business owners deserve better than that.”
Greens leader and former Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt has criticized the state government for a lack of detailed information on closures for cyclists and pedestrians, and in September wrote to the government urging it to reduce speed limits in Fremantle and East Fremantle to 40 or even 30 kilometers per hour, as well as improving the cycleway along the Stirling Highway bridge.
Hamish Hastie is WAtoday’s state political correspondent and the winner of five WA Media Awards, including the 2023 Beck Award for best political journalism.Connect with: X or email.
