MOONEE Valley councillors fear Mt Alexander Rd will be overrun by heavy vehicles as truck drivers avoid CityLink toll hikes introduced on the weekend.

Councillors last week penned a letter to Roads Minister Luke Donnellan demanding to see an impact assessment of the road toll increase and its effect on Moonee Valley roads.

“The last thing we want to see in Moonee Valley is Mt Alexander Rd turning out like Frances St in Yarraville, where you’ve got trucks avoiding the tolls left, right and centre,” Moonee Valley Mayor Andrea Surace said.

“There will be an impact across our whole municipality based on the proposed changes. We need to get an impact assessment.”

The CityLink toll spikes for heavy vehicles were introduced on the weekend as a result of the

Tulla Widening Project works.

The increase coincided with a State Government announcement of a multi-billion-dollar tunnel to improve traffic flow in Melbourne’s west that would include a ban on trucks using local roads in Footscray and Yarraville.

Trucking magnate Lindsay Fox (pictured), whose company Linfox is one of the biggest payers of tolls in the country, said truck drivers had resorted to using suburban streets as a viable way to move around Melbourne.

“The freeways are inadequate,” he said.

“The roads were designed for traffic. Streets are no different to the veins that run in your body. When the blood stops, you die.”

CityLink will not install new toll points as part of the Tulla widening project,

but the calculation of tolls for some vehicles will change.

Mr Donnellan did not respond before deadline.