By Cameron Tait
Point Cook residents hope Wyndham council’s move to relieve congestion on Palmers Road will trigger more long-term solutions rather than Band-Aid traffic fixes for the suburb.
As reported by Star Weekly, the council has challenged the state government to match its $3million commitment to upgrade Palmers Road, between Dunnings Road and Princes Freeway, in May’s budget.
Point Cook Action Group president Tony Hooper said governments really needed to be planning for 10 or 20 years down the track.
“All the road projects we’ve seen in Point Cook in the past few years have been out of date not long after they’ve been built,” Mr Hooper said.
At an estimated cost of $6million, the new works would include a transit lane during the morning peak on the west side of Palmers Road, from Dunnings Road to the Skeleton Creek bridge.
Dedicated bus lanes would be added on the south side of Dunnings Road from Shaftsbury Boulevard to Palmers Road and in the north-west section of the Palmers and Dunnings roads intersection, along with pedestrian and bicycle network improvements leading to Williams Landing station.
The transit lane would operate on weekdays between 6.30 and 9.30am for buses and cars with two or more passengers (including a driver), with indented bays provided at bus stops abutting the lane.
Mr Hooper said he hoped the project would be the first of many to ease gridlock in the suburb.
“There needs to be a long-term vision,” he said. “There’s no use having a new railway station if people can’t access it, so the bus lanes and the pedestrian and cycling connections are a step in the right direction.”
Point Cook mother-of-two Alice Osborne, a new member of the council’s transport portfolio committee, agreed that better planning was needed to ease the strain on both commuters and residents.
“It’s a shame the council has to spend any money on an arterial road, which is a VicRoads responsibility, when that money could have been directed towards other local roads,” she said.
“This is a baby step and although it’s not the council’s fault, Point Cook Road is still a nightmare. This area is still growing and there has been a lack of planning when it comes to roads. We can’t continue to play catch-up.
“We need proper solutions to our traffic problems rather than Band-Aid solutions.”
Point Cook Action Group president Tony Hooper said
“But, governments really need to be thinking 10 or 20 years down the track because all the road projects we’ve seen in Point Cook in the last few years have been out-of-date not long after they’ve been built.”
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