By Brendan Rees
Traffic flow at a busy Cranbourne intersection just became less of a headache for drivers – and not a moment too soon according to one resident.
A long-awaited right-turn signal on Camms Road for drivers turning onto South Gippsland Highway opened on Tuesday 31 July by VicRoads.
Long-time Camms Road resident Robert Bruce said he had lobbied for the new signal for years and was happy to see it finally installed.
“It’s very good,” said Mr Bruce. “It makes a lot of difference for the traffic flow; 20 cars can go around on the green arrow.”
“I would say thousands of cars come along Camms Road from Narre Warren Road and now there’s got a chance to turn right to Dandenong.”
“It was a very dangerous situation for a head-on smash,” he added.
Casey Council Deputy Mayor Amanda Stapledon said it was an “incredible outcome.”
“We’re sick of being stuck in traffic and this is one less issue that is going to lower the anxiety levels of our residents,” she said.
“No one’s got much time these days and being stuck in traffic is the most counter-productive thing we can have.“
Cr Stapledon thanked council officers and Mr Bruce during a council meeting held on Tuesday 7 August. Councillors also voted to write a letter of appreciation to VicRoads.
Metro South East VicRoads Director Operations, Michael Barker said “These signals will make it safer for turning vehicles, pedestrians crossing the road and will reduce the risk of head on crashes.”
However, businesses on Camms Road say although the new signal was a welcomed relief, traffic was still chaos during peak hours.
Manager of Tucketts Tyrepower Cranbourne, Daniel Valk says it wasn’t uncommon for traffic to be banked “quite a way” on Camms Road.
According to Mr Valk, he had seen people from his shop driving over the front nature strip to turn left onto High Street from Camms Road.
“There is a tree there but people go in between that so they generally take that as a shortcut, mainly the four-wheel-drives,” he said.
“I think they really need to rethink that whole intersection and probably cut out some of that nature strip to make it less congested.“
Mr Valk said a lot of the time his staff would be “stuck down the road” when they test drove their customers’ cars: “That can add a little extra time to the job.”
An employee of Cranbourne Boating Centre, who asked to remain anonymous, said trying to get from Dandenong to Cranbourne was a nightmare.
“After about three o’clock forget it,” he said.
“Customers trying to get boats in – they get frustrated a fair bit. It could take an extra 15 minutes.”
Robert Bruce, of Camms Road said it could take up to 10 minutes to get out of his driveway during peak hours.
“It’s getting worse because there’s a lot more houses being built everywhere,” he said.
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