Beach Road upgrade yet to see the light

THE newly installed traffic lights at the intersection of Beach Road and the Surf Coast Highway are in place, but are not expected to be switched on for about two months.

There have been several crashes at the busy Torquay intersection in recent years, and the Surf Coast Shire sought for some time to find a way to fund the construction of the signals.

After the shire re-allocated funding from another road infrastructure project, works to reshape the intersection and install the signals, lights and pedestrian crossings started in 2017 and were completed just before Christmas.

According to an update on the shire’s website, there is now be a period where Powercor audits the electrical infrastructure, which was “a standard requirement of all public electrical works” and will run until late February.

A shire spokesperson said the Powercor was responsible for the audit process, and the council “would be working with Powercor to try to fast-track this process, so the lights are in use sooner”.

A Powercor spokesperson said as the traffic signals and public lights were installed by the Surf Coast Shire’s contractor, “a full audit must take place before we are able to connect them”.

“At this stage, we have not yet received the ‘as built’ construction plans from the contractor.

“Once the contractor submits the ‘as built’ plans and these have been approved, we will be able to schedule the final audit and then initiate the connection process.

“The final audit is generally completed within 10 business days, and connection process between two to six weeks, depending on resource availability.”

The intersection is subject to a 40kmh speed restriction until the lights are in use.