Frustration over link road delays

By Lachlan Ellis

Moorabool Shire Council has asked the State Government to expedite plans for a new road in Bacchus Marsh, with the releasing of a preferred route well overdue.

VicRoads first put forward four ‘study areas’ for the Eastern Link Road in May 2018, with the road to connect Gisborne Road and Bacchus Marsh-Geelong Road via the Western Freeway.

The new road would divert freight vehicles from the town centre, which would bring some relief to traffic congestion in the area.

Moorabool Shire Mayor Cr Rod Ward said the Eastern Link Road needed to be completed as soon as possible.

“An eastern link option is needed as soon as possible to divert heavy vehicles and through traffic from the centre of town. This will ease congestion and improve safety. With Bacchus Marsh growing so rapidly, the town is busier than ever, so the sooner we address and ease the traffic congestion, the better,” Cr Ward told the Moorabool News.

“Following the decision by the State Government not to proceed with the proposed Woolpack Road option in 2010, the residents of Bacchus Marsh have been waiting patiently for an alternate route to be identified. Regional Roads Victoria have done planning studies and identified options, but nothing has been announced.”

Cr Ward said Council had first identified the need for an eastern link road in the late 1990s.

“When we first proposed the need for an alternative route through Bacchus Marsh, it was identified as a priority to: remove large, noisy B-double trucks from BM town centre, particularly Gisborne Rd & Grant St, improve road safety on the Avenue and the Western Highway through a wider road for trucks and smoother interchanges, reduce traffic congestion and remove trucks from Bacchus Marsh town, improve access for business visitors and tourists, and connect with a future arterial road network,” Cr Ward said.

“We’re calling on Regional Roads Victoria to release the preferred route, which should have happened months ago, so we can get closer to actually making the eastern link a reality.”

The Victorian Department of Transport and Planning could not confirm a date for the preferred route’s release.

For more information and to view the documents that Regional Roads Victoria has published so far on the Eastern Link Road, visit www.regionalroads.vic.gov.au and search ‘Eastern Link Road’.