BALLAN Road campaigners will take to the streets next month in the hope of convincing VicRoads to fund major resurfacing works for Wyndham Vale’s busiest road.
Resident and former truck driver Greg Byrne is organising a street rally in Werribee on April 15 to draw attention to his Fix Ballan Road campaign.
The push was launched on Facebook late last year and has the support of thousands of Wyndham residents. A petition calling for the road to be resurfaced has more than 2500 signatures.
Mr Byrne said the road, rough and worn in parts, was an accident waiting to happen.
Wyndham Council’s 2011 traffic volumes report found 18,630 vehicles a day used Ballan Road north of Cottrell Street, with 19,840 using the road north of Bolton Road.
However, the council recommended VicRoads not upgrade it yet for “strategic reasons”.
Mr Byrne said he was most concerned about the section near the Hobbs Road bend.
“The road is rough in parts and I have seen cars bounce onto the wrong side of the road at night because of it,” he said.
“I have lived in Werribee since the late ’70s, and in that time Ballan Road has never really been upgraded.”
Mr Byrne said it was essential that VicRoads considered widening the road so that right-turn lanes could be added to make it easier to turn into side streets.
Lara MP John Eren said the condition of Ballan Road was adding to Wyndham Vale’s traffic problems, while increased traffic loads were causing the road to deteriorate further.
“We have congestion problems. Manor Lakes is not getting smaller, it is getting bigger and
that is putting extra pressure on Ballan Road,” Mr Eren said.
“The government needs to have a plan in place to improve the road and alleviate congestion. If the government doesn’t have a plan accounting for the growth within the next five years, no one is going to want to live in Wyndham.”
VicRoads’ acting regional director, Damien Afxentis, said Ballan Road was inspected daily to identify maintenance issues.
He said VicRoads had recently completed resealing works on six sections of the road as part of its pavement maintenance program.
For more details about the street rally, email fixballanroadnow@bigpond.com.
