Cutting road pain

SEVERAL critical arterial roads in Casey have been identified by the RACV as needing urgent upgrades.
This week, RACV released its transport blueprint for outer Melbourne and Geelong, “Growing Pains”, and called on the State Government to take action to address the mobility challenges facing residents in these areas.
In Casey, RACV identified over 20 roads and services in need of urgent upgrades to improve transport for the area’s growing communities.
Some of the projects would include duplicating Western Port Highway from North Road to Frankston-Flinders Road at a cost of $180 million, constructing and duplicating Glasscocks Road from Dandenong-Frankston Road to Clyde Road at a cost of $170 million, duplicating Pound Road from Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road to Hallam Road at a cost of $50 million and improving bus services between Casey and Dandenong South and the Fountain Gate bus service.
RACV Manager Public Transport and Mobility Thanuja Gunatillake said that in 2002 RACV identified 74 critical Victorian arterial road projects in its Missing Links report but many of those critical projects had still not been addressed.
“Ten years on just over half of these projects have been complete or have had funds committed to build them,” Ms Gunatillake said.
“However, with continuing development in these outer communities, the project backlog had continued to grow.
“People in these areas are battling daily with overcrowded public transport and congested roads as the squeeze increases resulting in disconnected communities. The transport challenges in these communities will not be met by the current approach of government’s drip-feeding funds through annual budgets.”
Ms Gunatillake said that RACV urged the State Government to immediately commit to the blueprint and put in place a long-term investment strategy that enlisted the support of the Federal Government to contribute to the major infrastructure projects outlined.
The State Government then needs to engage with the private sector to deliver an accelerated program of works in outer Melbourne.
In compiling the Growing Pains report, RACV consulted widely with local and state government agencies to identify the transport projects needed to address the critical transport backlog.
RACV’s Growing Pains is available at racvgrowingpains.com.au