Melton council has ruled against sealing Beattys and Mt Cottrell roads despite mounting community pressure and a fatal accident in which a Melton woman lost control of her car.
Operations manager Greg Wood said the council would not be “sealing or fully constructing these roads in the immediate future”.
“These unsealed roads are within the urban growth area and, as such, will either not exist, exist on alternative alignments or be urban roads when development occurs,” Mr Wood said.
But neighbours are determined to pressure the council to undertake a risk assessment of the roads, citing the health and environmental impacts of leaving the “heavily used” roads unsealed.
“The dust is so dense when cars pass you,” resident Tom Pandza said.
“Cars seem to do almost 80 kilometres an hour and it produces so much dust there’s almost no visibility.”
A 50-year-old Melton woman lost control of her car on Mt Cottrell Road and crashed into a tree on February 7. She died at the scene.
Mr Pandza said he and his neighbours had seen many drivers lose control of their vehicle, even driving into trees, fences and ditches.
“About two months ago we had a Holden Commodore fall into the ditch,” he said. “But [in the latest crash] there was a fatality.”
