By Brendan Rees
A proposed new road link at an arterial in Clyde North is set to improve local connectivity to a new school and community centre.
At its 21 July meeting, Casey Council administrators approved $500,000 in funding to extend Ferdinand Drive by 90 metres to a future Grices Road roundabout – allowing more families in Clyde North and the Minta Farm precinct easy access to the new public Grayling Primary School and Manna Gum Family and Community Centre.
Under the plans, the funding will also be allocated to building a deceleration lane due to the expected increase in traffic from the east of Grices Road, which will ensure the ongoing safe operation of the existing intersection of Grices Road and Glenrose Boulevard.
Council is currently in talks with major developer Stockland that owns a parcel of land bordering Grices Road to the north known as the Minta Estate.
According to a council document, Stockland is obligated to construct 600 metres of Grices Road from Glenrose Boulevard to the east as part of their estate access requirements at a cost of $2.9 million – known as the Grices Road East project.
Council says the planned Grices Road works will create a new roundabout linking Grices Road to a connector street into Minta Farm to the north and Ferdinand Drive to the south.
Under a ‘works-in-kind arrangement’ council says it will pay Stockland for the delivery of this project using developer contribution funds as part of the Clyde North precinct structure plan.
The council document revealed Stockland was also prepared to deliver the additional proposed works – being the Ferdinand Drive extension and deceleration lane projects.
This partnership, council says, will present “an opportunity for council to achieve cost efficiencies in delivering the required infrastructure at an earlier stage”.
At their meeting, council administrators voted unanimously to contribute $500,000 in funding for the additional proposed works under the 2021-22 capital works program.
Casey Council administrator Miguel Belmar commended the motion put before council, noting the importance of building roads to meet the demands of the growing municipality.
“This motion ensures that an extension will be available so that the future road network responds as early as possible to the needs of the community,” he said.
