By Jason Dowling
Cars park on the side of the road to avoid airport parking.
VICROADS is set to erect new wire barriers along the Tullamarine Freeway that will prevent drivers from waiting at the side of the road to collect people from Melbourne Airport.
The Transport Department says the new barriers, on which work will begin next week, are part of a $4.8 million road safety project between Airport West and the airport.
Patricia Liew, of VicRoads, said there had been 69 run-off-road crashes in the 10 years to 2010 on the freeway - including four fatal crashes.
But one effect of the new barriers will be to make it more difficult for people to avoid using the expensive airport parking facilities - the subject of a highly critical report this week by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
VicRoads declined to comment when asked whether the barriers were explicitly aimed at preventing motorists parking beside the freeway before picking up people at the airport.
''The installation of safety barriers will address run-off-road crashes by preventing vehicles from hitting roadside hazards,'' Ms Liew said. She said they would add to existing wire rope barriers between Mickleham Road and the airport.
Meanwhile, debate has flared over why commuters are being forced to walk to the outer reaches of the airport, near terminal four, to catch suburban buses.
The buses were shifted from the central terminal two location when SmartBus route 901 - which does a 115-kilometre ''orbit'' of the metropolitan area from the airport to Frankston - was added in September.
Airport spokeswoman Carly Dixon said the state government ordered the change. ''We made no request to move the bus services down to terminal four.''
But a senior transport source insisted the airport had requested the move. The source also said the airport sought payment for every passenger using the orbital bus service in return for giving it a more central base.
A Transport Department spokeswoman said: ''SmartBus route 901 currently stops near terminal four due to congestion and stopping-time constraints at terminal two … The department will keep all public transport buses together at terminal four while we work with the airport to plan the future of all airport bus stops.''
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