By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
CASEY Council will write to the State Government in an attempt to ease traffic congestion at a busy Narre Warren intersection.
Concerned residents have sought help from council, with traffic continuing to bank up at the Shrives Road and Centre Road/Fullard Road intersection during peak times.
Council resolved in urgent business on Tuesday to write to Roads Minister Luke Donnellan after Cr Sam Aziz called for an investigation of the site, near the Webb Street shopping centre precinct and Narre Warren train station, citing a history of traffic jams and crashes.
Resident David Russell raised the issue with Cr Aziz in May, recommending authorities look into lengthening the right-hand turning lane at the intersection.
“I have walked down to this intersection (Shrives and Fullard) on several occasions and have observed that the issue appears to be that vehicles can’t do a right-hand turn into Fullard Road due to the traffic being backed up at least 100 metres south of the intersection,” he said.
“And due to the road only being a single lane, it does not permit the vehicles to enter the slip turn lane.”
In 2012 Casey Council wrote to VicRoads about congestion at the same intersection and contacted them again last month, but VicRoads said the intersection was not on the immediate priority list and would be re-evaluated for funding in the future.
Having recently undertaken its own investigation of the site, Casey Council found the nearby railway crossing was operating largely as it had been previously, but estimated traffic volumes on Shrives Road were growing by six per cent per year.
