By Emily Laing
Residents in Cranbourne East say they are “trapped“ after the road closures were introduced on both ends of Linsell Boulevard.
Locals living in the nearby Hunt Club and Livingston Estates say getting out of their estates is “an absolute nightmare“ as the number of roads experiencing closures and roadworks piles up.
“Especially around school times, it takes 20 minutes or more just to exit the estate,“ Nathan Tennyson said.
“I just wanted milk, took me an hour to get it,“ Andrew Feather said.
Cascades Clyde resident Maggie Rose said her estate “can only exit onto Linsell Boulevard“.
“It’s frustrating to have people in leadership care so little for how these works have impacted our area,“ she said.
“Upgraded roads are great but the competency of the people handling these upgrades has become questionable.“
Livingston resident Casey Bree said it took her “20 minutes just get to the traffic lights at Berwick-Cranbourne Road“.
“Then another 15 minutes to get to my children’s primary school that is 2.7km from my house,“ she said.
“So that’s 35 minutes to get my children to school which normally would take me 6-7 mins max.“
Christina Allan, who lives a mere 1.6 kilometres from St Peter’s College, said it took her “40 minutes“ to get there because of the roadworks.
Member for Cranbourne Pauline Richards said she is asking for everyone’s “patience“ as they “drive through these major infrastructure projects“.
“I understand this is a very difficult time for the Cranbourne East and Clyde North communities while we add extra lanes to Narre Warren – Cranbourne Road,“ she said.
“We can all see a lot of high vis as we move around our community, so please remember to slow down and allow extra time to keep our local construction workers safe.
“I know the construction crews are working hard to open the roads as quickly as possible“.
The road closures affecting Cranbourne residents come from a slew of different development entities, including Major Road Projects Victoria (MRPV), City of Casey and private developers.
The intersecting projects led by these developers have led to a build up of road works in the Cranbourne area, as residents become boxed in by overlapping closures.
The Linsell Boulevard works are being led by both MRPV and the City of Casey, with MRPV responsible for the new closures on Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road and the council overseeing the Clyde Road works.
With the City of Casey running far behind in their scheduled development of Linsell Boulevard and Clyde Road, MRPV are now facing backlash as their works overlap with the blown-out schedule of the council.
The Linsell Boulevard/Clyde Road works began in February 2022, and were set to be completed in November last year.
Seventeen months later and locals are still waiting for full access to the road to be returned to them.
The delay came from Melbourne Water’s refusal to grant approval for the council to construct an easement on their chosen location.
The council has since gotten the “necessary approvals“ and work is expected to continue at the site.
“Council acknowledges the disruptions caused by roadworks in the local community and the fatigue of ongoing roadworks for residents living in those areas,“ Trevor Griffin, Manager City Design and Construction said.
“While Council has little influence over the scheduling of MRPV and Big Build Projects, we acknowledge there will be some inconvenience caused by these works in order to achieve the future benefits of new road infrastructure.
“Council apologises for the inconveniences its construction works at Berwick-Cranbourne Rd (Clyde Road) have caused and appreciates the understanding and patience of the communities impacted by the construction works at either end of Linsell Boulevard.“
The Clyde Road/Linsell Boulevard intersection is expected to be completed by the end of October 2023, subject to weather and traffic signal works.
“We are working with our contractor and Department of Transport and Planning to bring works forward to re-establish left-in left-out traffic movement on the Berwick Cranbourne Road (Clyde Road) as soon as possible,“ Mr Griffin said.
Major Road Projects Victoria Program Director Marc Peterson said MRPV has been working closely with the City of Casey and Department of Transport and Planning to allow left in-left out access from the City’s work site at the eastern end of Linsell Boulevard, with the intersection opening to traffic on Monday morning.
“Once our upgrade is complete, Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road will become a straight-through movement when travelling north from South Gippsland Highway, improving traffic flow and travel times for the 33,000 motorists who use the road every day,“ he said.
“The upgrade to Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road is critical for locals and the hundreds of thousands of people living in the City of Casey.
“We’ve made a number of signal and signage changes to improve traffic flow on detour routes and keep delays within advised time-frames.”
Private developments, including the construction of the new Cranbourne North Aged Care and Retirement Village by Winslow Constructors’ Medium Density team on Thompsons Road are further exacerbating the road restrictions and preventing MRPV and the council from creating effective detours.
Alongside the torturous delays in traffic, residents have also raised many safety concerns exacerbated by the new road closure.
“I saw 2 rear-enders happen before I got out of the estate on Tuesday and one just out and down the road, a testament to how anxious drivers are,“ Hunt Club local Marnie Jones said.
Pedestrians have also been left walking an “inconvenient“ and “unsafe“ line without pathways.
“With building and road works on Berwick-Cranbourne Rd from the Livingston Estate to the Sladen St roundabout is anyone thinking of the pedestrians?“ Emma Materne said.
“Concrete bollards line both sides of the road now with no footpath on either side available.
“Daily I see pedestrians walking in the road lane alongside oncoming traffic because it is the only way they can get to the bus stop outside of Casey RACE.“
Others have witnessed emergency services prevented from navigating through the traffic, potentially leaving life threatening situations without the proper response.
“An ambulance with sirens on yesterday afternoon couldn’t get through the congestion because no one had anywhere to go,“ Ms Bree said.
“ I fear if there was an emergency and an ambulance was required during the peak entry and exit times to this estate,“ Ms Jones said.
“You cant close this many roads in and out of an estate and not foresee that there would be problems like this, surely,“ Morgan Symonds said.
MRPV reports they have held “onsite briefings“ for emergency services regarding possible detours.
“Ambulance Victoria is working closely with the City of Casey to ensure we can continue to respond effectively to emergencies and serve the local community during road closures,“ an Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said.
The Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road closure is expected to last until mid-October, with the Cranbourne population left wondering how such “poor planning“ was given the go ahead.
“No one is disputing that the roadworks are needed, what is being disputed is the poor management of these timelines,“ Ms Materne said.
“The area of Casey and it’s population cannot handle multiple projects at once.
“It’s dangerous and careless.“
