FREMANTLE mayoral candidate Mark Woodcock says the looming Fremantle Traffic Bridge closure risks chaos without a single coordinator to oversee solutions for residents, businesses and emergency services.
“I haven’t heard or seen anything saying ‘hey, on October 30, we’re going to give you a plan of what is going to happen, what things we’ve got to fix it’,” Mr Woodcock said.
“I know this isn’t council’s job to bring these solutions, but it’s certainly their job to fight for their community, to raise concerns and go out to all these state governments departments, and say, ‘hey, you know what’s happening’.
• Mayoral candidate Mark Woodcock says the bridge closure is going to be chaotic without a central coordinator.
Manage
“First of all, someone needs to pick who’s the person who’s going to head that up, and I don’t see anyone who’s the coordinator.
“Why wouldn’t you give it to an emergency services sort of body, and say ‘hey, this bridge is closed, how are you going to manage that?’
“Give it to people who find solutions, as opposed to people who find excuses.”
“You hear things from Main Roads and things from Public Transport, but who’s gone and checked where all the government employees live and work?
“How many have to use a car to go to work, and who’s suggesting to them ‘these are your options’. I don’t see any of that sort of stuff.”
Mr Woodcock said staggered work hours, freight restrictions and adjustments to port operations could ease congestion if they were properly coordinated.
“How many people work at the FOMO building, and how many of them are traveling on the bridge.
“How would it work if they do an hour less every day, but come to work at five o’clock or six o’clock, beat the rush for that period. So where’s that level of coordination?
He says incentives, even down to a coffee reward card, could be used to prompt workers to look at alternatives to turning up in peak hour.
“Port operations; they could easily change their operational hours with pickups and take 4 per cent of the traffic off the bridge.
He said schools, childcare, garbage collection, deliveries, parking and public transport also needed to be factored into a single plan.
“You would expect them to have appointed a person to oversee holistically, the entire thing, saying, yes, ambulance routes are covered, Fire and Rescue, police, whatever we need.”
“The scary part is, I mean, obviously you can get your kid to school somehow, but how will all the businesses in Fremantle? They’ve had nothing so had covid. I mean, they’ve had cost of living or cost of living. They’ve got a dirty city to start with.”
Mr Woodcock said finances remained the city’s bigger long-term challenge but warned the bridge would be the immediate test of leadership.
by STEVE GRANT