Priority call on road hazard

Traffic congestion at two notorious Ballarat Road intersections is spurring Brimbank council into seeking urgent assistance from VicRoads.

The council says the intersections at Anderson Road/McIntyre Road in Sunshine and at Station Road in Deer Park need action to improve safety and reduce delays.

Brimbank mayor Margaret Giudice said the council would write to VicRoads about improving traffic flow at the troublesome intersections.

“Motorists at these intersections frequently suffer long delays,” Cr Giudice said.

“With rapid population growth across Melbourne’s west, these traffic problems will continue to worsen unless we see improvements to these important intersections.”

Cr Lucinda Congreve, who raised the traffic issue at council’s May meeting, said the intersections were causing significant delays and had the potential to have impacts on freight movements, productivity and community safety.

“Our community is frustrated by continued delays as a result of motorists from different directions all converging on Ballarat Road – there’s simply no other easy way for drivers to get to the city,” she said.

“I myself have experienced this frustration, having recently had to wait for seven changes of lights before I could turn right on to Ballarat Road.”

Cr Congreve said impatient drivers were creating hazardous driving conditions in the area.

“We’ve had reports of vehicles running red lights, as well as drivers not being able to turn into local roads because of banked up traffic blocking lanes,” she said.

“These issues must be investigated as a matter of priority, and solutions implemented to improve safety on our local roads, such as adjusting the timing of traffic lights to make it easier for traffic flowing on to Ballarat Road.”