Hit the road

By Glen Atwell
BERWICK resident Robert Erzetic has had enough.
The 38-year-old has endured countless sleepless nights since the opening of Pakenham Bypass in early December, and when a runaway tyre cannoned into his back fence last week, Mr Erzetic declared it the final straw.
Now he is preparing to put his Earlsfield Drive home up for sale after VicRoads declared no sound or safety barriers would be installed.
Mr Erzetic’s backyard is less than 50 metres from the new Princes Highway on-ramp to the Monash Freeway, where city-bound drivers cross an overpass and then navigate a roundabout before entering the freeway just before the Soldiers Road overpass.
Only a small timber fence stands between Mr Erzetic’s property and the thousands of cars and trucks which roar past his house every day, and night.
“The noise is just out of control,” he said.
“I knew the freeway had to be built and I welcomed it, so I put up with years of construction and all the vibrating ceilings and noisy machinery that went with it.
“I stupidly assumed that eventually VicRoads or the City of Casey would install some sort of physical protection between the roadway and my house, given I am literally a stone’s throw away,” Mr Erzetic said.
But when the grand opening came and went, the only barrier Mr Erzetic received was sleep deprivation.
“I’m right behind the on-ramp, it sounds like a drag-strip, people are accelerating hard and the trucks make an unbelievable amount of noise during the night,” he said.
On his way home last Thursday afternoon, Mr Erzetic was using the on-ramp when he noticed a gaping hole in his backyard fence.
“The road is so close that I can see the clothes hanging out to dry, so the hole in my fence was blatantly obvious,” he said.
“My first thought was someone had broken in and then I panicked because I thought my dog would have escaped.”
Mr Erzetic rushed home and found what he believes is a caravan or trailer tyre in the middle of his yard. “I can’t imagine how fast the tyre would have been going to crash straight through my fence.
“It must have come loose as the vehicle turned onto the freeway, all the grooves were really worn down and it’s obviously just fallen off.
“It’s just lucky that my dog survived and that there were no children running around the backyard,” Mr Erzetic said.
VicRoads is investigating the incident after attending the scene and photographing the damage but a spokesperson declined to comment on the matter. Mr Erzetic said he had only two questions to ask the VicRoads staff who visited his house.
“I asked will a sound barrier be installed and is VicRoads going to pay for the fence.
“The answers I got were ‘no’ and ‘maybe’,” Mr Erzetic said.
“It leaves me no choice but to put my house up for sale, though I am worried about how much less the property is worth now the freeway is open.”
A City of Casey spokesperson said the matter was an issue for VicRoads.