By Ewen McRae
Brimbank council and residents are stepping up their campaign for the removal of three level crossings.
The council has been urging the state government for months to address the level crossings at Station Road and Robinsons Road in Deer Park, and Fitzgerald Road in Sunshine West. They have hit the pavement in recent weeks with petition packs for residents to collect signatories to present to Parliament.
The packs include posters, petition pages a cover letter and reply paid envelopes. The council said they have until the end of the month to collect as many signatures as possible to support their cause.
Mayor Margaret Giudice said while the recent addition of more services on the train line was welcome, the flow-on effects made removing the level crossings even more important.
“While it is good to see more trains operating, the flow-on effects of increased train frequencies on the Geelong and Ballarat train lines and increasing traffic are causing havoc on surrounding local roads in Brimbank,” Cr Giudice said.
“Traffic around the level crossings of Station Road, Deer Park; Robinsons Road, Deer Park; and Fitzgerald Road, Sunshine West is congested and slow moving, putting the safety of drivers, pedestrians and rail commuters at grave risk.
“Boom gates go down for 30-40 minutes per hour during morning peak time, with traffic backing up for more than 650 metres in peak periods. In some cases, vehicles are parking across the tracks and attempting to go around boom gates, as the boom gates can be down for up to nine minutes at a time, and for over 52 per cent of the core peak hour.
“Council has received numerous complaints from community members expressing their concern with the current situation.”
The council needs at least 1000 signatories to the petition in order to present it to Parliament. Electronic petitions are not allowed.
