Borrowed time

By Russell Bennett
A DANGEROUS Montrose roundabout will be history if Labor is returned in this month’s State Election.
Roads Minister Tim Pallas joined Monbulk MP James Merlino at the intersection of Mt Dandenong Road, Leith Road, and Montrose Road to announce plans for a $3.5 million upgrade.
“A future Brumby Government will invest the money to upgrade safety, ease congestion, and improve traffic flow by replacing the roundabout,” Mr Pallas said.
“This would include removing the roundabout and introducing new traffic lights at the intersection and safety improvements.”
Mr Pallas said money would be allocated in next year’s budget for the project and community consultation would play a “huge role” in what form the intersection takes next.
“There have been seven accidents at the roundabout in the last five years, which is obviously a big concern,” Mr Pallas said.
“So we’re going to eliminate it and upgrade what is obviously an incredibly complex interchange of roads.
“It will require a lot of engineering treatment to get this right but we’re committed to that.”
Curt Tebbutt of the Montrose Township Group was concerned about where the intersection would be headed next.
“Even when the pedestrian lights were put in for the intersection, it wasn’t quite as designed,” he said.
“One of the things we’d hate to see is this money, which is obviously only going to be a one-off commitment, being spent the wrong way.
“It’s important we get a really good study into what the best solution is.”
Mr Pallas responded by saying the government would liaise with VicRoads and require them to set up a community consultation group.
“Exactly how long the project takes will depend on how we agree to proceed from here,” he said.
Mr Merlino said an upgrade of the intersection would “reduce significant delays in peak hour traffic while preventing some of the near-misses and dangerous driving that occurs at the roundabout.”
“The township committee put out a survey to 4000 Montrose residents and got a huge response back, so this is obviously a significant issue for the local people.”
Yarra Ranges mayor and Walling Ward councillor Len Cox said: “We’ve had nothing but complaints from the residents of Montrose about this roundabout.”
“It has never worked the way we thought it should and it seems to me the only solution is the one the government is putting forward.”