By Emily Chapman Laing
Road closures on Thompsons Road and Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road continue to impact locals, with delivery drivers suffering an involuntary income loss as a result of traffic delays.
The roadworks, which began on 9 January 2023, have seen detours in place while the roundabout is removed and replaced with a signalled intersection.
Thompsons Road and Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road are two heavily trafficked main roads in the Cranbourne area, with these closures causing traffic delays on main roads and traffic build-up on residential streets.
One consequence of the main road closures and side street detours is the impact on local delivery drivers.
Menulog drivers are facing longer travel times between restaurants and homes, which turns into less orders completed each hour and less income per shift.
Sean Flynn is one example of this effect.
“A trip that would usually take me 15 minutes is taking me over half an hour,” he said.
“Menulog doesn’t take the roadworks into account. The prices stay the same. So a $9 trip that should turn into a $16 trip with the roadwork delay stays at $9.”
Sean’s is one of many cases that advocate the need in this area for more main roads.
As Cranbourne and Clyde expand in population and housing, there is growing tension over the lack of large roads to support the extra traffic, an issue which City of Casey CEO Glenn Patterson has acknowledged.
“Our city’s rapid population growth is leading to record car ownership and increased pressure on our community’s roads and transport network,” he said.
“As part of our Connecting Casey advocacy campaign, council continues to advocate to both the State and Federal Governments to fund, plan and deliver critical infrastructure that our community needs and deserves.
“We welcomed the Victorian Government’s election commitment of $70 million to install traffic lights at the intersection of Berwick-Cranbourne Road and Thompsons Road in Cranbourne North.”
Casey Council notes that the City of Casey is one of the fastest growing areas in Australia, with projections of a 67 per cent population increase by 2041.
Currently, the transportation systems are failing residents who are finding detours in multiple prominent locations in the area.
Local businesses have also felt the brunt of the closure, with multiple businesses reporting lower revenue, despite efforts from Major Road Projects Victoria to mitigate the effects.
“We have extensive measures in place to help businesses prepare for potential impacts during construction and continue to work with all businesses in the project area to minimise those impacts as much as possible,” said MRPV Program Director Marc Peterson.
Support measures included mentoring services, social media and traditional marketing support, access and wayfinding signage, and the Open for Business trader voucher campaign, an initiative in which MRPV distributed pre-paid vouchers to community members encouraging them to support local businesses.
Pharmacist Truman Dang of Park Avenue Pharmacy has seen fewer clients entering his business since the works began.
“Of course [there are] less people,” Dang said.
A reduction in clientele has been echoed by another local business owner, Sidharth Jain of Apna Bazaar.
The Springhill Shopping Centre business has reported less revenue for the duration of the roadworks.
Mr Jain commented on the wider-reaching effects of the closures, beyond those impacting his business.
“The cars cannot commute,” He said.
“People are keen to buy goods but unfortunately due to roadworks people are unable to access the freeway [and] they have to come by foot.
“Senior citizens are not able to access the shops. Youth can adjust, but if we talk about senior citizens and people who are more interested [in buying] goods, [these] people are facing a lot.”
The Thompsons Road intersection works come at the same time as the Glasscocks intersection closure which has left some residents disgruntled.
The new intersection between Glasscocks Road and South Gippsland Highway in Hampton Park remains closed, despite projections for the upgrade to be completed in July 2022.
Seven months after the expected completion date, residents are left waiting in suspense for when the new traffic signals will finally shine green, yellow and red.
The project was meant to create a new east-west link between South Gippsland Highway and Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road, as an alternative to Thompsons Road.
Casey Council claimed the upgrade would provide an east-west substitute to ease traffic congestion in the Cranbourne, Cranbourne North and Clyde areas, yet delays are rife with both roads under construction simultaneously.
However, Casey Council City Design and Construction Manager Trevor Griffin has good news for locals.
“Now that AusNet has finalised the traffic signal connections, we are able to progress these works. All going to plan, the intersection will be open by late February 2023,” Mr Griffin said.
Camms Road in Cranbourne has seen heavier traffic congestion as a detour route.
However, drivers had to seek out another alternative following yet another road closure on Camms Road between Tuesday 14 February and Thursday 16 February.
Major Road Projects Victoria (MPRV) has advised drivers to allow an extra 20 minutes travel time due to the upgrade.
The Thompsons Road works include relocation of several significant utilities in order to construct three through lanes and three turn lanes in each direction.
“Drainage, power, gas and telecoms have been protected and moved so we can build the extra lanes,” MRPV said.
New paths for pedestrians and cyclists are also being built.
While the works on Thompsons Road and Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road have caused grief for locals, the heavy road closures allow five months of work to be completed in just five weeks, with a completion date of 20 February coming up early next week.
