Dohertys Road in Melbourne's west is struggling to support freight volumes, so a local council wants funding to upgrade it
February 26, 2013
A Melbourne council will launch a campaign tomorrow to lobby the Victorian Government to upgrade a route in the city’s west to accommodate growing freight volumes.
The Fix Dohertys Road campaign, organised by the Wyndham City Council and the Wyndham Industrial Liaison Development (WILD) Committee, will push for the single-lane route in Laverton North’s industrial precinct to be duplicated from Fitzgerald Road to Grieve Parade.
It will also ask for funding to improve the Hume Road and Cherry Lane intersections.
The area has the highest commercial freight density in the country and is home to 460 businesses that employ more than 30,000 staff, Wyndham Mayor Heather Marcus says.
“It’s extremely disappointing Dohertys Road has not been upgraded to facilitate the enormous growth in traffic volumes,” Marcus says.
“The frequency of reported collisions at the intersections along Dohertys Road appears to be increasing… and, as a result, many motorists now take greater risks.”
Marcus says Laverton North’s capacity to accommodate 24-hour traffic is critical to the area’s immediate and long-term future.
WILD Chairman Mick O’Donnell says the road, which was designed and constructed more than 30 years ago when Laverton North was made up of mostly empty paddocks, is not keeping up with existing traffic numbers.
“The intersections with Hume road and Cherry Lane are both very dangerous,” O’Donnell says.
“The long delay for vehicles using these intersections makes drivers impatient which in many cases has ended up in serious accidents, and over time, deaths.”
O’Donnell says the productivity of the area’s industrial precinct relies on efficient road connections.
He says the Victorian Government should make money available to immediately upgrade the intersections even if a full duplication is not possible at the moment.
