By Cade Lucas
A group of frustrated Tarneit residents are petitioning Wyndham council to fix a flood-prone section of Dohertys Road, after rain forced its closure, again.
Heavy rain on Tuesday, July 9, forced the closure of Dohertys Road between Tarneit and Derrimut roads, after a large pool of water formed over the crossing of Dry Creek.
The closure about 6pm on July 9, disrupted afternoon traffic on the busy Tarneit thoroughfare.
It’s the latest in a long list of road closures caused by flooding on the dip in Dohertys Road where it crosses Dry Creek, and it was the final straw for resident Aijaz Moinuddin.
“Enough is enough, people are frustrated,” said Mr Moinuddin, who was driving home along Dohertys Road on Tuesday evening when he came across the road closure.
Once he got home, he started a petition, demanding Wyndham council immediately start fixing the flood prone section of road.
“The recent and past closures due to rains have highlighted the severe deficiencies in the current infrastructure, causing significant inconvenience and posing safety hazards to the community,” wrote Mr Moinuddin in the petition launched on Change.org.
The petition has since attracted more than 120 signatures and is set to be tabled at the next meeting of Wyndham council on July 23.
Wyndham council director or city operations Amanda Smith said council appreciated how frustrating the repeated road closures are for residents, but plans to fix the Dry Creek crossing were already under way.
“Council is upgrading Dohertys Road to create a road connection between Tarneit and Derrimut roads that caters for current and future population growth and addresses the road flooding issues,” Ms Smith said.
“The full project scope includes duplicating Dohertys Road between Tarneit Road and Sapling Boulevard; upgrading the roundabout at Dohertys and Tarneit roads to a traffic-light intersection; and deviating Dohertys Road to avoid multiple crossings of Dry Creek, including constructing a bridge over Dry Creek. This project is included in Wyndham’s capital works plan and budget for 2024-25 and is in the detailed design stage, with construction currently due to start in 2026.”
