Cade Lucas
Wyndham council has conceded there is still no timeline for fixing a flood prone section of Dohertys Road in Tarneit, despite committing to an upgrade more than two years ago.
In April 2022, Wyndham council announced that pre-design works were under way to upgrade the section of road crossing Dry Creek where a large puddle forms whenever it rains, often remaining there for days afterwards.
Yet two years on and with a large pool of water once again covering the section of Dohertys Road just west of the intersection with Derrimut Road, council said there was still no start date for when upgrade works would begin.
“In terms of Dohertys Road near Dry Creek, that section of road is currently on Wyndham City’s capital works program and is in the early design phase,” a spokesperson for Wyndham council told Star Weekly.
The delay is frustrating for local residents and business people such as real estate agent Safat Ali who has been selling properties in the area for more than a decade and has to regularly drive through the puddle.
“There’s two dips there on Dohertys Road that become like a river when it rains,” Mr Ali said.
“There’s kids going to school, people going to work and the water is deep and it’s dangerous,” he said, adding that the puddle sometimes gets so deep that the road has to be closed.
Even when it remains open, Mr Ali said drivers seeking alternate routes to avoid the puddle made the area’s already congested traffic, even worse.
“They start coming through Tarneit Road to Maddern Boulevard, Madden Boulevard to Polly Parade, Polly Parade to Sappling Boulevard where they come back out onto Dohertys Road again. If there’s water (in the puddle) it takes about half an hour to come out of Sappling Boulevard onto Dohertys Road, whereas normally it takes less than a minute.”
Mr Ali is part of a group of local residents and businessmen, including former Wyndham councillor and property developer Intaj Khan, who are campaigning for works on improving Dry Creek crossing to be expedited, arguing they’ve taken too long.
“The duplication is overdue for this road,” he said.
“We demand a bridge or another road here to stop the flooding.”
