By Violet Li
Cranbourne and the surrounding community say they are tired of the roadwork at the South Gippsland Highway and Ballarto Road roundabout, as the construction has been going on for more than two years.
A nearby resident called Star News and complained about a lack of visible process at the construction site was annoying and it was a disaster trying to get down to the coastal towns.
He said it had been more than two years since the community had to snake through the roadblocks within the 40km speed limit.
The issue has also been raised in the Casey Council’s March Meeting, where several public questions probed the completion date of the project.
“What is the truthful realistic time frame for this to be completed? What action has been taken with regard to the decisions made around this project to ensure that such delays and inconveniences do not occur again?” one resident asked.
“These roadworks are creating a major bottleneck and a huge embarrassment to the City of Casey,” another resident said in their question.
Casey Council is converting the South Gippsland Highway and Ballarto Road intersection into a roundabout intersection to accommodate the growing population in the area.
Star News reported in early October last year that the roundabout construction had been hit by an approximately $2 million budget blowout, on top of the proposed $11 million.
The additional costs have been incurred due to “significant underground stabilisation and relaxed extension of time costs that were not foreseen but is required to complete the project to standard”, according to Casey Council.
City of Casey manager City Design and Construction Michael Barrett said back then that the Council was coordinating with relevant authorities for further relocation and protection of underground services, which were obstructing drainage upgrades and proposed road alignment.
He suggested that a revised date for completion of work would be mid-2025.
Cranbourne Gardens Ward Councillor Michelle Crowther said she received messages from residents daily about this project and the lack of progress.
“When driving past the site in the last month, I have also been concerned about the lack of visible work occurring,” she said.
“However, council officers report that asset protection works are nearing completion and roundabout roadworks will soon commence,” she said.
“Council officers report the project is still on track for completion in July 2025.
“I thank the community for their patience and look forward to this much-needed roundabout being completed.”
Cranbourne East local Colin Hampton, who lives close to the project site, said the construction was shut down since Christmas last year and nothing happened on the site for several months after.
He pointed out that it was not the first time this project was met with shutdown. He said he did not see any work on the site for more than three months in the first half of 2024.
“It shouldn’t have happened,” he said.
“When they did the study and the estimate of cost on the roundabout, whoever did the estimated cost overlooked the underground services.
“Why weren’t the underground services taken into account like they are now? Any project manager, any engineer worth his weight should have taken that into account.
“The questions need to be asked. Who did the original calculation? What responsibility did they take?”
