Night-time truck bans could be extended to residential streets in Melbourne’s inner-west that are used by hundreds of heavy vehicles a night, as the Napthine government seeks to address festering community concerns about health and safety.

Lower speed limits will also be enforced during school hours on part of a major truck thoroughfare in Yarraville, where there have been several serious crashes in the past five years.

Trucks will be banned Francis Street, Yarraville, come 2022. Credit:Joe Armao

The changes stem from a comprehensive study of truck movements through Melbourne’s inner-west that has revealed that Moore Street - a short, undivided road lined with dozens of period homes - is bearing the brunt of a VicRoads heavy-vehicle curfew in place for other nearby roads.

The 600-metre long residential street in Footscray has become a night-time highway for rat-running container trucks dodging existing heavy-vehicle curfews as they travel to and from Melbourne’s port.