Melbourne's Murrumbeena and Neerim Roads intersection again identified as most frustrating stretch of road in the 2012 RACV Redspot Survey
September 17, 2012
Melbourne’s Murrumbeena and Neerim Roads intersection has again been identified as the most frustrating stretch of road in the 2012 RACV Redspot Survey.
It is the second year that the notorious level crossing in Murrumbeena has been recognised among the 2,600 nominated sites in 61 municipalities.
Road users were asked to nominate roads during a seven-week survey by motoring group RACV.
Long queues caused by the boom gates being down, poor co-ordination of traffic signals and difficult turns has put the Murrumbeena crossing on top of the list.
Some 28 trains use the crossing in one hour during morning peak, with the section closed for about half an hour during every peak hour.
The Victorian Government has made a submission to Infrastructure Australia asking for funding to put the crossing underground, but no commitment has been shown from the Federal Government’s infrastructure advisory body.
Chandler Highway from Heidelberg Road to Princess Street in Kew is the second on the list, being in the top 10 since 2006.
A reduced number of traffic lanes and difficult turns continue to frustrate road users.
“This location is one of the two enduring redspots that successive governments have failed to fix (which) essentially boils down to a two-lane bridge bottleneck,” RACV says.
Point Cook Road in Seabrook has claimed the third spot, followed by Carnegie’s Koornang Road and Morton Avenue.
Other routes that gained mention in the survey were Burke Road between Monash Freeway and Malvern Road in Glen Iris, Forsyth Road and Old Geelong Road in Hoppers Crossing.
RACV Manager for Roads and Traffic Dave Jones says road users are frustrated that the same roads are still causing gridlock and not enough is being done to rectify the problem.
“Many of the redspot nominations focused on sections of roads impacted by level crossings,” he says.
“However, none of those being upgraded this year by the government are the sections that road users tell us are the most frustrating.
“The delays at these crossings are not only affecting people driving to and from work but those driving to railway stations and those travelling on buses and trams.”
In the 12 years since the survey began, congestion of Victorian roads has risen significantly and is expected to cost $6 billion in 2020.
RACV will discuss the survey results with VicRoads, local councils and the Department of Transport.
