Angry commuters are demanding that Brimbank council widen Taylors Road, claiming plans to remove a dangerous roundabout don’t go far enough to alleviate a traffic ‘nightmare’.
The roundabout at the Taylors Road and Kings Road intersection in Delahey will be removed and traffic lights installed by May, 2017.
Works are to begin in November.
While news of the roundabout’s removal drew an overwhelming response on Star Weekly’s website and Facebook page, some commuters said it wasn’t enough.
Several residents demanded a Taylors Road duplication.
One post read: “the government [has] been wasting so much money on fixing Taylors Road, it’s too narrow”; another called for “two lanes all the way on Taylors Road like you should’ve years ago”.
“They need to widen the road in Taylors Road … OMG it’s a nightmare” one person wrote.
Council’s responsibility
VicRoads metro north-west director Vince Punaro said the roundabout works would “remove the long traffic queues, particularly during peak travel times” but that a road duplication was Brimbank council’s responsibility.
“As Taylors Road to the west of the intersection is the responsibility of Brimbank City Council, any decision on the duplication of this section of Taylors Road is a decision for the council,” Mr Punaro said.
Council infrastructure and environment director Neil Whiteside said the council had been lobbying for the western side of Taylors Road to be included in the state’s arterial road network.
“Council has been advocating for some time that this section of road … be declared as a main road, and duplicated, by VicRoads,” he said.
“As an interim measure, council in 2011 awarded a contract for construction of a three-lane treatment in this section of Taylors Road, which has significantly improved the traffic flow for Taylors Road.”
