Town jam relief

By Paul Pickering
A $500,000 roundabout project is set to release pressure from a notorious Belgrave bottleneck.
La Trobe MP Jason Wood last week confirmed that $333,000 of federal funding would go towards the transformation of the intersection of Bayview, Belgrave-Gembrook and Old Monbulk roads.
This grant will be complemented by $167,000 from the Shire of Yarra Ranges, enabling the project to commence later this year.
Yarra Ranges deputy mayor Samantha Dunn described the location, which is the access-point to the Belgrave and Puffing Billy railway stations, as “a dog’s breakfast intersection,” and a major contributor to the town’s traffic congestion problems.
“When people drive through Belgrave they regard it as a bit of a carpark with all the traffic congestion,” Mr Wood added, “we’re hoping that smoother traffic flow encourages people to stop there.”
As well as addressing concerns about general traffic congestion, the new roundabout will provide safer and easier access to a fleet of buses and emergency vehicles.
The intersection has been endorsed by Belgrave railway station tenants Invictabus and U.S. Bus Lines, who say that the avoidance of lengthy peak-time delays will help to improve their services.
Better traffic conditions will also benefit Country Fire Authority and ambulance vehicles entering and exiting bases on Bayview Road.
Geoff Davis, team manager of the Belgrave CFA branch, said that peak-hour delays have also hampered his team’s response to fires.
“A roundabout there would certainly help us,” he said.
Yarra Ranges has asked that the new roundabout design incorporates traffic refuge islands to provide a safety boost for pedestrians, and in particular students of the nearby Mater Christi College.
Both Mr Wood and Mrs Dunn said they were excited about the project.
Mr Wood believes that the initiative “will have a positive impact on the local economy and will assist the local community to grow and develop.”
Cr Dunn’s enthusiasm, though, was tempered by the belief that more must be done to address the heart of Belgrave’s traffic congestion problems.
“It’s a very positive move from the standpoint of safety and accessibility,” she said, “but I believe in the longer term we need to look at ways of reducing traffic flow through Belgrave and other townships, not just facilitate its movement.”
Donna Burgess, president of the Belgrave Traders Association, also acknowledged the need to expand upon this project. “There has been a series of band-aid solutions to a lot of problems with traffic,” she said.
“I hope that this is the beginning of a real look at the long term future of Belgrave.”
Such concerns will continue to be the focus of the Bracks Government’s ongoing study into the feasibility of a controversial Belgrave deviation project.
While Mr Wood was reluctant to view the upcoming works as a precursor to a deviation project, he said the proposed roundabout would complement such a project, should it be deemed suitable.