By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
DISTRESSED motorists who regularly use a notoriously congested stretch of the Monash Freeway may get a reprieve with the State Government testing the viability of increasing the section from two lanes to three.
Roads Minister Terry Mulder was in Narre Warren yesterday (Thursday) to announce the investigation which could see a potential third lane added to the Monash Freeway between the Gippsland Freeway and Clyde Road.
Results from the investigation determining the cost of the project and the work required for it – including pavement strengthening, drainage, line-marking and signage requirements – are expected to come back to the Minister by October.
Preliminary advice from VicRoads has indicated that the shoulders and stopping areas on this section of freeway could be converted into traffic lanes without starting from scratch, Mr Mulder said.
If given the green light, it is believed the project would take about 18 months to complete.
“Basically, what we’ve got to do is we’ve got to get the plan, we’ve got to understand the cost and then we’ve got to go to Treasury or go to government and say ‘right, here is our developed project, how do we go about funding this?’,” Mr Mulder said.
“At least we’ll be well informed in terms of putting the case for what would be a significant uplift in traffic movement, for what really is relatively low cost compared to having to build a brand-new lane.”
Mr Mulder said an extra lane would allow authorities to better cope with an emergency situation stemming from a car accident.
“There’s been a lot of worry and concern in the past about emergencies, when people pull over, what this means,” he said.
“Once again, if there is an incident on the road, it’s picked up immediately and the traffic in that lane is stopped, it’s pushed across; the lane is closed because there’s an incident ahead.
“In come the emergency vehicles and clear it and out they go.
“It means you haven’t got a shoulder like this, an emergency lane sitting there that may not be used for long periods of time that could be utilized for day-to-day traffic operations.”
Mr Mulder also left the door open for Federal Government funding to flow into the project.
