WYNDHAM’S traffic problem is getting worse, with a new survey revealing 19 of the city’s key roads are over capacity.
The council’s 2012 traffic volumes report, released at Monday’s council meeting, found 15 VicRoads arterial roads and four council main roads were at capacity. Ten of the roads urgently need duplicating.
The municipality’s most congested road for the second year running was Forsyth Road, south of Old Geelong Road, which is used by 38,120 vehicles per day.
A two-lane road is considered to be at capacity if it carries more than 18,000 vehicles a day. A four-lane road has a capacity of 35,000 vehicles.
The council will ask VicRoads to duplicate sections of Forsyth, Sayers, Point Cook, Heaths, Palmers, Derrimut, Leakes and Dohertys roads to ease congestion, despite the report revealing that none of Wyndham’s VicRoads-controlled arterial roads had been duplicated in the past two years.
Deputy mayor Marie Brittan said in that time Wyndham’s population had grown by 25,000, making the traffic problem worse.
She said VicRoads needed to do $100 million worth of work on the city’s roads.
“It is not the type of problem you hope you can ignore and it will go away; on the contrary it is getting worse.”
Cr Shane Bourke said the council’s decision to build McGraths Road in Wyndham Vale was a good example of how investing in roads could reduce congestion.
Council officers believe daily traffic on Werribee Street fell 33 per cent in the past year because residents were instead using McGraths Road to exit the city.
“If the government gave us a hand, people wouldn’t be stuck in traffic trying to get out of the city,” Cr Bourke said.
The survey found parts of the Princes Highway, Old Geelong, Morris, Ballan, Sayers and Heaths roads were also at capacity, but should not be duplicated for strategic reasons.
Tarneit motorist Shannon McGuire said the government had ignored long-running calls for Wyndham roads be duplicated.
He said Derrimut-Hopkins Road should be duplicated urgently. “All roads in this area need duplication eventually or else nothing will address the real problem of traffic flow.”
VicRoads did not respond before the Weekly went to print.
—Laura Little
