A Bacchus Marsh group pushing for a second Avenue of Honour has welcomed new works proposed for Halletts Way but says more changes are needed to fix the town’s traffic woes.
Honour for All group spokesman Malcolm Trask said revised plans announced by Roads Minister Terry Mulder on March 7 – including upgrades to Woolpack and Hopetoun Park roads and an exit ramp for the Western Freeway to Bacchus Marsh Road – were a great start.
“The Halletts Way ramps will assist with the traffic situation at the Gisborne Road exit, but it won’t have much effect on the centre of town,” Mr Trask said, adding that more north-south crossings were needed.
Honour for All evolved from the Push Back for Woolpack group, which wanted a roundabout near Bacchus Marsh’s Avenue of Honour and lobbied to extend Woolpack Road to the Western Highway. These previous plans, rejected by Planning Minister Matthew Guy, would have involved removing five elm trees on the memorial drive.
“We believe Moorabool council should accept this offer and return to the Woolpack Road solution later on,” Mr Trask said.
“The big problem for the Avenue of Honour is that the eastern half is currently seeing 300 to 400 heavy truck movements a day.
‘‘Despite repeated warnings from arborists, it’s continued to be used as a truck route and will put the avenue’s long-term survival in peril.”
Mr Trask “welcomed” the state government’s abandonment of plans for an eastern interchange.
Mr Mulder’s spokeswoman said a timeframe for the works, which also require approval from the council, wouldn’t be known for six weeks.
