Safety fight continues

KNOX Council will continue its campaign for safety improvements at the Tormore and Boronia roads intersection following a report detailing its 10-year fight.
The report detailed the history of the council’s applications to VicRoads concerning the intersection, meetings and traffic surveys.
Councillors unanimously approved an amended motion from Chandler Ward’s John Mortimore at their 22 September meeting to seek safety improvements from VicRoads rather than traffic lights.
“This does not in any way take that off the table,” he said.
He suggested a U-turn ban as one option.
Tormore Roads Lights Action Group founder Cr Peter Cole was absent from the meeting. He would prefer that the council fight for full signalisation.
“But something’s better than nothing,” he said. The council has asked VicRoads to fund traffic signals since February 2000.
The road authority has consistently advised the council the intersection did not warrant traffic lights, which would cost up to $700,000.
It installed detector loops in Tormore Road last December. They detect waiting traffic and trigger Boronia Road pedestrian lights to give motorists time to exit.
Recent traffic studies found the current operation posed less delay to all traffic than signals, and that lights would increase delays on Boronia and Tormore roads.
The report said an overview of crash locations within the municipality identified the Tormore and Boronia roads intersection was no worse than other Knox sites.