OPPONENTS of rejected Avenue of Honour roadworks have attacked Moorabool Council, VicRoads and the Transport Department for flagging the possible demolition of 16 homes as one of several alternatives to improve Bacchus Marsh’s traffic burden.
Avenue Preservation Group president Damian Strangio said the idea was ludicrous and would “dissect” the town with an ugly and unnecessary bypass.
He said heavy traffic was not an issue in the centre of the town; rather, local traffic was the problem.
“I am stunned this was even raised. To jump to this out of the blue is extraordinary,” Dr Strangio said.
“Why aren’t we looking at the next best option in a VicRoads assessment, which was an upgraded eastern interchange? Why are we being rushed and stampeded when the biggest problem is local traffic?”
Dr Strangio said residents were being “bulldozed” into truck bypass options.
“I would be very disappointed if this is some sort of revenge against the community,” he said.
The council, VicRoads and Transport Minister Terry Mulder last week confirmed the Fisken Street option was one of several raised at a meeting on March 5, as revealed by the Weekly.
But Mr Mulder’s spokeswoman, Larissa Garvin, said no preferred route or detailed alignments was established.
VicRoads spokesman Travers Purton said the community would be “heavily consulted” to ensure its views were considered in developing an “option that meets all needs”.
The Weekly understands that council engineers met last Thursday to determine the costs of the option.
But the council said the matter was no longer in its hands.
Chief executive Rob Croxford said the meeting was also “to seek assurances on the funding for the original project”.
“This is being run by the state government now, not us,” mayor Pat Griffin said.
Cr Alan Comrie last week derided the notion of works along Fisken Street, calling the suggestion “absolute madness”.
Traders Association president Malcolm Trask said a decision was needed quickly to ensure federal funding remained available.
“Heavy vehicle traffic in this town is diabolical. You only have to stand outside my business on Main Street for 10 minutes to realise that.”
