By Clarke Towson
Spotswood man builds Melbourne’s first West Gate Bridge live stream
Until recently, there was no easy way for people in Melbourne’s west to see what was happening on the West Gate Bridge in real time. Most of us rely on delayed traffic data, radio reports or simply take our chances and hope the bridge is clear. After years of sitting in surprise gridlock, I decided to build something I always wished existed – an independent, 24/7 live stream of the West Gate Bridge that anyone in Melbourne or globally can access instantly.
Watch the West Gate Bridge live stream now
My name is Clarke Towson. I’m an entrepreneur based in Spotswood and before running my own businesses I spent 21 years working in high-performance computing in the Australian defence science sector. That background made me comfortable working with cameras, networking, modelling tools and system automation, but this project isn’t about technology for its own sake — it’s about transparency, community utility and visibility of one of Melbourne’s most important transport assets that all of us care about – The West Gate Bridge.
The West Gate Bridge isn’t just a road. It’s a critical artery that connects families, jobs, freight and emergency services across the city. A single breakdown or storm front can ripple across Melbourne within minutes, and being able to see that happen in real time helps people make better decisions about when to leave home, whether to reroute or whether to wait out a traffic surge.
The vantage point of the camera is unique. Positioned in Cullen Court in Spotswood, the camera looks out across the freeway and Port Phillip Bay capturing traffic patterns, colour shifts at sunrise and sunset and the dramatic storm fronts that roll in from the west. It will no doubt become just as interesting to weather watchers and photographers as it is to Melbourne commuters.
My hope is that the stream becomes a small but useful piece of citizen infrastructure — created locally, for the benefit of the west. Anyone can view it for free on YouTube and I’m excited that The Westsider is helping share it with a wider audience.
Westsider locals can help support the new live stream of the West Gate Bridge by booking a trailer from Clarke. Every trailer hire helps support Clarke’s elderly mother by contributing toward the council rates and ongoing costs of maintaining her home in Spotswood which hosts the West Gate Bridge Live Stream and associated technology infrastructure.
Spotswood Trailers — Clarke’s your local mate with a few trailers right next to The West Gate Freeway at 7 Cullen Court Spotswood: https://spotswoodtrailers.com.au
