Travel woes taken on board

By Lia Bichel
CASEY council has stepped up its drive to address commuter frustrations by holding a transport forum in November.
The News reported last week that Casey Council released a list of arterial roads and intersections that were in need of urgent upgrades.
On 16 November, Casey Council will meet with Cardinia Shire Council, City of Greater Dandenong and VicRoads at Monash University in Berwick for a transport forum to discuss another one of council’s top priorities – the future of the congested Hallam Bypass and the associated road network.
Select businesses and community groups will receive an invite to the conference, following a motion by Cr Sam Aziz in July and a further motion by Cr Simon Curtis to discuss the future of the busy roads and the opportunities to increase public transport.
Casey Council’s decision came after the release of an Auditor’s General Report titled, Management of Major Road Projects, which stated that the volume of traffic on the Pakenham and Hallam bypasses dangerously overshot earlier forecasts.
“Over most of Pakenham Bypass’s length, daily traffic in 2010 exceeded the 2011 forecasts by more than 50 per cent and was close to the volumes expected in 2031,” the report states.
“The Hallam Bypass’s daily traffic in 2010 overshot the 2011 forecasts from 15 to 29 per cent for different sections.”
The report also states that the consequences are serious.
Following the report, VicRoads director Major Projects George Mavroyeni said while areas in the Casey and Cardinia have undergone significant accelerated growth in recent years, the Hallam Bypass, which opened in 2003 as a four-lane freeway, was designed with the capacity for future widening to six lanes.
He said VicRoads “has made a genuine attempt to identify areas for potential improvement while also acknowledging current performance.”
“A number of initiatives will be adopted. VicRoads will look to identify best practice for traffic modelling including the Auditor General’s suggestion of approaches used in other countries such as the UK and New Zealand,” Mr Mavroyeni said.
Mr Mavroyeni said a VicRoads review of projects has indicated a need to improve its approach to traffic modelling. However, the review also indicated that benefits of the work by VicRoads is underestimated.
He said VicRoads would work on developing a Project Outcomes Measurement Plan to apply to all future projects.
VicRoads, Department of Transport, RACV, South East Metropolitan Manufacturers Alliance, City of Greater Dandenong and City of Casey are all expected to make presentations at the conference.