By Corey Everitt
PRECEDE
The Princes Highway and Freeway are far from short of road works. At any given time, traffic management diverts or redirects at least one resident’s commute. However, there is one stretch of the highway devoid of works, instead, residents are diverted by regular collisions and near misses. The highway between Nar Nar Goon and Longwarry has largely been unchanged in decades despite increasing traffic and collisions, many of which have resulted in serious injury and death. In the final week of reporting on four key local issues of this election, the Gazette looks into the ongoing calls to see the Princes Highway made safe and accessible for the railway towns and beyond.
BREAKOUT QUOTE
“There is just going to be more and more accidents; they’re nearly every week at this point.”
Roads are always an essential part of each major party’s platform, and this election is no exception.
The Labor Party has promised more than a billion dollars to plan and upgrade the State’s roads with many of the initial projects unveiled through the campaign.
The Liberal Party has promised to restart the program to seal roads throughout the Dandenong Ranges and promised $500,000 million to councils to maintain local roads.
Labor committed $3 million to plan upgrades that will ease traffic congestion between Drouin and Warragul.
Recently, the Liberals matched this commitment in the close contest for the seat of Monash.
On the other side of town, several upgrades and further planning have been promised by Labor in Cranbourne.
Nothing has been promised in Pakenham as of yet, though the many current road works as part of the Pakenham Roads Upgrade are federally funded by previous governments.
On either side of the Princes Highway between Nar Nar Goon and Longwarry, there is currently or will be action to address congestion and safety.
Yet, many residents would say this strip of the highway, which has seen four deaths since 2017, should be a top priority for upgrades.
Specifically, addressing its major intersections that connect the railway towns.
Many residents each day have to make turns on and off the highway, either crossing or joining a dual carriageway with oncoming traffic travelling up to 100km/h.
With no slip lanes or overpasses combined with such speed, this is a stretch of the highway across Melbourne that is largely not seen anywhere else.
Since 2017, there have been four fatalities among 115 road collisions.
“The current intersections are known for near misses and accidents and do not include slip lanes or overpasses, forcing vehicles entering the highway to pull out in front of oncoming traffic,” Cardinia Mayor Jack Kowarzik said.
“The wide median treatment of these intersections is incredibly outdated, and such intersections are known for posing major safety issues. This is further exacerbated by increasing traffic volumes and more visitors to the shire who are unfamiliar with the intersections.”
Pakenham is home to over 50,000 people and will welcome 20,000 more in its new eastern suburb.
Drouin and Warragul have experienced one of the highest growth rates of a town above 10,000, growing by 41 percent between 2013 and 2023 to nearly 50,000.
Approximately 30,000 vehicles use this stretch of the highway everyday.
As the major parties are promising road funding to the marginal seats of Monash and Holt, many are calling for politics to be set aside and safety to be prioritised in this part of La Trobe.
Cardinia Shire Council is calling on the parties to commit funding to develop a master plan for upgrades to the major intersections of the highway, precisely $25 million.
The council refers to this section as the “missing piece” to the “national highway”.
It would be a joint project with the state and federal governments, as all the road projects promised in this federal election are.
The central concern is the safety of the highway, the council does not wish for another serious collision.
“We’re seeking funding from all levels of government to deliver a business case and masterplan that outlines the safest and most effective solutions to the current intersections linking Nar Nar Goon, Tynong, Garfield, Bunyip and Longwarry to the Princes Highway,” Mayor Kowarzik said.
Calling for action
The matter has not been new for residents of the railway towns, it has been an issue for several decades as the highway and freeway have been upgraded seemingly everywhere but there.
The Tynong Progress Association last initiated a petition calling for renewed planning for future upgrades to the major intersections, such as those with Hope Street, Tynong Road, Garfield Road and Abeckett Road.
Though their particular concern is their own intersection, the association knew it was a much larger problem.
“The reason we started the petition in the first place was because we knew we couldn’t get it done on its own,” association president Pauline Preston said.
“It’s only part of the problem, the problem is the rest of the highway.”
The petition was recently tabled before State Parliament, with a response hopefully soon.
The association is aware that this is not the first public call regarding the highway and may not be the last.
Tynong is fortunate enough to house the major amusement park Gumbuya World, but the traffic and its accompanying intersections don’t exactly feel like a blessing.
It was this intersection where a mother and father with their young child in an SUV would be struck by a vehicle while exiting Gumbuya World.
The father died, and the mother and daughter were hospitalised.
A petition in response to this fatality would call for urgent works to regulate traffic and ease access the park, reaching over 7000 signatures.
In response, the State Government said they will investigate “long-term solutions” while implementing speed limit changes to the highway.
Since then, the 100 km/h speed limit was dropped to 80 km/h between Tynong Road North and the Gumbuya World entrance, as well as between Hope Street and Abeckett Road.
It’s now over four years since that fatal collision, and there has been no word on long-term solutions.
“These dangerous intersections on this major thoroughfare are well overdue to be replaced with grade-separated interchanges to improve safety. The reduction of the speed limit from 100 km/h to 80 km/h is a short-term, temporary solution – what we need is a permanent solution to ensure the safety of our community and visitors to our shire, and to support freight logistics,” Mayor Kowarzik said,
Association member John Glazzard said plans have been drawn up for decades and the government still owns large parts of the land surrounding the highway for it.
“They’ve got to start implementing those plans, and the sooner they can do that, the cheaper it’ll be,” he said.
Fellow resident Jeanette Cope added, “There is just going to be more and more accidents; they’re nearly every week at this point.”
It’s not only the surging population and the increasing popularity of Gumbuya World that are of concern.
Close to the amusement park is the Tynong Quarry off Brew Road, which requires a steady level of trucks to use the service lane built for both itself and Gumbuya.
Another major quarry is still in the process of potential approval in Bunyip North, meaning a possible increase in truck levels out of Tonimbuk Road.
Garfield resident Garry Burns called for action.
“How many more people have got to die? Now’s the time to review and update the plans,” he said.
The quiet streets
It’s not just the major intersections that are of concern, it’s hoped that upgrades to them will help regulate the traffic for small roads that service locals.
Locals Charlie and Pauline have been living off of Snell Road for over a decade and have been locals for life.
However, they rarely take it to enter the highway when it’s busy.
“You pick your times you want to go anywhere,” Pauline said.
“If it’s looking too bad when we head down our dirt road, we go out through Moore Road and up through Bessie Creek Road to get back onto the highway that way.”
In the last few years, electronic signs were installed near Snell Road on the highway that are triggered when a vehicle nears the intersection from Snell.
Intending to drop the speed limit to 70 km/h, the signs have become notorious for residents who have reported regular incidents where they seemingly fail to trigger.
Even when they do trigger, it doesn’t feel like much help for Pauline and Charlie.
“The problem with it, if it’s not really busy, you can think, oh, yeah, the traffic’s slowing. But then all of a sudden, you’ll have one that doesn’t and zips around and you could be collected,” Pauline said.
They both travel to Pakenham and Drouin for errands and family, and they have seen traffic increase substantially in their time.
“At certain times of the day, you’ll find that it’s really hard, school times, both morning and afternoon,” Charlie said.
Pauline added, “Once upon a time, you wanted to go to Melbourne from here, you could sort of leave at six o’clock and you’d be fine without running into too much traffic, now you’ve got to leave at five and it’s really, really increased.
This simple turn-off for either direction of the highway is one of the main routes to the town of Maryknoll.
The need for a modern solution is a priority.
“Slip lanes are the only solution I can think of that would be cheaper without a flyover,” Pauline said.
On the doorstep
Agribarn Garfield is one of the few local businesses that is located right on the highway.
The building has been there for decades and current owner Mark Hanneysee has been running the hardware and stock feed store for the last few years.
It has a short dedicated lane for city-bound traffic to enter and a break in the median for traffic to go through to Garfield North Road or turn right to go outbound.
The highway towards Drouin bends where city-bound traffic travelling 100 km/h can pass the business within seconds of being in sight.
Agribarn is only just down the highway from Gumbuya World and is affected by the congestion.
The service lane finishes at Garfield North Road, one of the main points of access for Gumbuya.
“During the summer months, it’s extremely difficult to either exit or enter the business because there’s so much traffic,” Mark said.
“Sometimes you can sit there for half an hour before the traffic clears.
“I’m not picking on Gumbuya, but you just saw that service lane blocked up all the way back to the park after last weekend.”
Turning left from Agribarn has no slip lane. Not only do customers have to time carefully for the incoming traffic, but they have to accelerate from a stop to 100 km/h from a gravel driveway.
At times, Mark has to do this in his truck, fully loaded with feed for his deliveries.
“The busiest times here are from 6.30 in the morning to eight o’clock, when all that traffic’s trying to get to Melbourne,” Mark said.
“And then you come here in the afternoon, especially coming to the winter now at 4.30 to five o’clock, it’s horrendous.
“It’s dark, all you have are the headlights to pull you out.”
An urgent matter
In a recent report by WIN News, Labor candidate for Monash Tully Fletcher was queried about the intersection upgrades, where he put the onus on the state government.
“I think to understand the scale of the work required, we need the planning to be done, and that is the state government’s responsibility,” he said.
“My message to the Victorian State government is that let’s work together, let’s get on with it and let’s fix the gateway to Gippsland.”
In response to the Gazette, Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said the project will be considered in the usual budget process, in partnership with the state government, if re-elected.
In a statement last month, Liberal incumbent for La Trobe Jason Wood said the previous Coalition government secured funding for the highway upgrades through Beaconsfield and Officer, after which the Labor government “wasted” the last three years.
“Our roads are in ruin, and they’ve failed to deliver much-needed upgrades while cutting road funding and stopping projects!” He said.
“Under Labor, they’ve failed to deliver funding in their budgets to continue these important safety upgrades. Where is the funding to upgrade dangerous intersections from Pakenham to Bunyip?
“We are not in government, therefore will make our election commitments closer to the election.”
While the project is in limbo, another serious collision always looms and the ones who are regularly affected by them are the emergency services.
Nar Nar Goon Fire Brigade Captain Justin Seddon said the upgrades were urgent.
“Road trauma not only affects the people involved in the collision, but also the members here and other emergency service workers,” Captain Seddon said.
“So we need the road network to be upgraded now and we urge the federal government to invest in that funding.”
