By Rowan Forster
BEACONSFIELD residents claim they are being shafted by Cardinia Shire and VicRoads, splashing out on rates and receiving no reprieve on the suburb’s roads.
It comes after a horror crash on the Old Princes Highway last week, which saw a 24-year-old female passenger airlifted to the Alfred Hospital in a serious condition.
She was trapped inside a Ford Falcon for more than 30 minutes, after the driver, a 22-year-old man, was reportedly cut off by another driver and swerved into a tree.
Alan Rogers contacted the Gazette after the accident, irate that the suburb’s roads have not kept up with its skyrocketing population growth.
Mr Rogers, from Glismann Road, said the intersection at the end of his street adjoining the Old Princes Highway is long overdue for traffic lights.
“Especially with all the subdivision going on as of late – we can’t even get out of our road properly without it being a danger,” he said.
“It (Beaconsfield) seems to the place that nobody spares a thought about.
“This is just one of many accidents that have taken place on that corner, and it should be enough for VicRoads and the council to realise it needs to change.”
More than 20 emergency services workers rushed to the Old Princes Highway on Wednesday to respond to the crash.
State Emergency Service and the Country Fire Authority were forced to cut the roof from the Ford Falcon to rescue the victim.
An air ambulance was then forced to land hundreds of meters away from the scene to convey the 24-year-old to hospital.
The Old Princess Highway is recognised as an arterial, and falls under the jurisdiction of VicRoads.
VicRoads currently has no plans to undertake works or developments on the thoroughfare.
Garry, a witness to the crash, believes it could have been avoided if a signalised intersection was in place.
“The car pulled out of Glismann and obviously didn’t see the car coming along the highway towards Pakenham,” he said.
“Then you had the last minute swerve and the Falcon hit the tree.
“If there were traffic lights there, the car wouldn’t have been able to pull out when it did.”
