TRAFFIC lights will be installed at a notorious Hoppers Crossing intersection that has been likened to a “death trap”.
Roads Minister Terry Mulder has announced $880,000 to fund improvements at the intersection of Old Geelong and Forsyth roads after it was ranked the sixth most-congested location in Melbourne in a recent survey.
The money will go towards traffic lights, street lighting and wire-rope barriers at the north-east corner of the intersection.
Mr Mulder said the investment would reduce congestion and address the area’s crash history.
In the past four years, more than 16 incidents at the intersection have been reported, four of which resulted in injuries.
“The intersection is a key access point to the Princes Freeway in both directions and has been a well-known traffic snarl and accident hotspot for many years” Mr Mulder said. “This project is designed to address the history of casualty crashes and help to make Victoria’s roads safer for everyone using them.”
The announcement comes after years of lobbying from Wyndham Council. Council reports reveal traffic on Old Geelong Road surged from 34,800 vehicles a day in 2007 to 42,700 a day last year, while traffic on Forsyth Road rose 8300 to 13,000.
Wendy Bellin, who has owned a store on the dangerous bend for 24 years, said traffic lights would have a real impact in managing the flow of banked-up congestion that had steadily worsened over a decade. “Because of all the development on Forsyth Road, and at Point Cook, there are so many more cars,” she said.
“I used to live in Werribee and go home on that road, but now I’ve changed routes because you just can’t get out at any time past 3pm. You’re taking your life in your own hands. People do stupid things – they cut across the grass area, they cut into the traffic and on Forsyth Road, they make three lanes.”
Truganina South Primary School assistant principal Michael Laird previously said traffic lights were critical, with the school’s enrolments doubling over the past year.
Wyndham Transport Advisory Committee chairman Jim Giddings described the funding as a “deposit” with more cash urgently required for a major upgrade of the notorious intersection. “It’s a fatality waiting to happen and I hope to God it doesn’t take one to prove a point.”
Tarneit Labor MP Tim Pallas said the funds fell short of “actually fixing” the trouble spot. He said the intersection needed to be redesigned so the roads no longer met at an acute angle.
