Wyndham council will lobby the state government to get rid of Werribee’s Cherry Street level crossing during its first term in power.
On Monday night, the council voted to throw its support behind upgrading the Cherry Street level crossing despite the state government’s intention to remove the Werribee Street crossing first.
The state government is starting work on its election promise to get rid of Victoria’s 50 most dangerous level crossings over the next eight years, with 20 to be redone during Labor’s first term in government.
Works to remove the first four level crossings – at Main Road, St Albans; Blackburn Road, Blackburn; Burke Road, Glen Iris, and, North Road at Ormond – will start later this year.
The state government has announced the first 17 level crossings on its list and, so far, Wyndham has been left out.
The council is keen to see the Cherry Street crossing added as one of the final three to be upgraded during Labor’s first term.
A report commissioned by Wyndham council recommended two options for the Cherry Street grade separation:
• A road under rail grade separation at Tarneit Road, closing the Cherry Street crossing to vehicles, or,
• A road under or over rail grade separation at Tarneit Road, maintaining vehicle access at Cherry Street via a two-lane underpass, or a two-lane level crossing.
The report also prioritised removing the Old Geelong Road level crossing before the Werribee Street crossing. Councillor Glenn Goodfellow described the level crossing as a “Berlin Wall” that divided Werribee in two.
He said the grade separation would free up between 25 and 35 minutes of boom gate downtime during the morning and afternoon peaks.
“When the budget was handed down this month, it was a bit disappointing that Wyndham was not in the top 20 level crossings.
“However, I’ve been led to believe that cases are being prepared for those,” Cr Goodfellow said.
“And hopefully Wyndham’s level crossing removals will appear in the next lot of government policy.
“We need to ensure that we get the right crossings done at the right time.
“We can’t just do one crossing; we must look at the whole picture and look at the whole Werribee line, if we are to achieve any benefits for the people of Wyndham.
“The Cherry Street crossing is our priority as a council.”
Councillor Gautam Gupta said it was great to see the council’s transport advocacy campaign come to fruition.
“It’s reached the stage where the government is talking about it and taking it seriously.”
