North and East Fremantle residents protested the proposed Roe 9 and unknown Roe 10 on Sunday. Photo: Jon Bassett
Camera IconNorth and East Fremantle residents protested the proposed Roe 9 and unknown Roe 10 on Sunday. Photo: Jon Bassett Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Residents take fight against Roe 9 tunnel to Stirling Bridge

Jon BassettWestern Suburbs Weekly

ORGANISERS claimed up to 1000 irate North and East Fremantle residents protested the proposed Roe 9 tunnel section of the Perth Freight Link (PFL) at Stirling Bridge on Sunday.

Protestors met in the middle of the bridge, which joins the notionally marginal-Liberal State seat of Bicton in East Fremantle with the safe Liberal seat of Cottesloe held by Premier Colin Barnett.

The protest was organised by East Fremantle residents who fear their town would be cut in half, and face a plume of truck diesel and traffic jams, if the claimed $900 million tunnel emerges 1.2km south of the bridge.

PerthNow Digital Edition.
Your local paper, whenever you want it.

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW

The Labor Party claims PFL planning it has obtained indicated trucks increasing from 3800 to 5600, with about 70,000 cars at the bridge daily in 2021.

“The whole project is wrong, as I believe the science and environmental issues still haven’t been addressed properly, including Environmental Protection Authority guidelines being ignored and financially that we are spending this much on 5km of road,” Claremont resident Dr Ros White said.

Protesters want work restarted on a second port in Kwinana, planned at least since 1997, to take the Fremantle Port growth away from the bridge bottleneck.

“This road is congested enough already, as it takes up to four light changes to get over it as it is,” East Fremantle resident Stephanie Howley said.

About 100 North Fremantle residents demanded more information on how the PFL would ever get over the bridge and to the port through their suburb if Mr Barnett was re-elected at the State Election this Saturday.

North Fremantle resident Graham Datson said people were being told the PFL was a complete project, but residents were not being heard.

Mr Barnett has previously said the Tydeman Road-Stirling Highway intersection in North Fremnatle may be improved, while Labor’s promise is to stop the PFL and restart planning for the second port.