SOUTH Barwon MP Andrew Katos is accident-prone intersection of Beach Road and the Surf Coast Highway.
\nThe Surf Coast Shire has committed about $600,000, which will cover half the intersection, but wants the state government to contribute the rest.
\nMr Katos has run several petitions calling for upgrades to the intersection, and estimates about 700 people have signed his latest effort since its launch in February.
\nThese include McDonald\u2019s Torquay restaurant manager Ben Tabe, who has IT asked for more petitions so he can keep collecting signatures from his customers.
\nSpeaking last week outside his store, which fronts the intersection, Mr Tabe needed for the safety of his customers, particularly in the summer months.
\n\u201cI used to live on Beach Road myself, and it\u2019s an absolute nightmare.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve seen many accidents here \u2013 some serious, some not so serious.
\n“Even as an example right now, there’s people walking across the road here; it\u2019d be great for them to at least have more safety to be able to cross that road.\u201d
\nMr Katos said it was \u201cincredibly frustrating\u201d that the Surf Coast Shire had not used previously-available funding (under the former Coalition government) \u201cThe shire had the money to do this in 2014 and elected not to fund this intersection, and yet, in the same breath, it was their number-one roads issue in their advocacy for the state election.\u201d
\nMr Katos said Surf Coast Highway and Beach Road was \u201cthe intersection everyone loathes\u201d if they lived in Torquay.
\n\u201cWhether it\u2019s the shire or the state government that stumps up the money, people just want to see it done and they can\u2019t be done.\u201d
\nLast year, the Surf Coast Shire supported a plan by VicRoads to apply for Transport Accident Commission funding that would put a roundabout of South Beach Road and the Surf Coast Highway, and then use the savings to fund the remainder of the Beach Road\/ this has yet to come to fruition.
\nQuestions to the Surf Coast Shire were not returned by deadline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SOUTH Barwon MP Andrew Katos is accident-prone intersection of Beach Road and the Surf Coast Highway. The Surf Coast Shire has committed about $600,000, which will cover half the intersection, but wants the state government to contribute the rest. Mr Katos has run several petitions calling for upgrades to the intersection, and estimates about 700 […]<\/p>\n