By Rowan Forster
The closure of Railway Avenue to Racecourse Road commuters has been described as a “Band-Aid” fix, with the more effective, expensive option – a level crossing upgrade – being ignored.
However, it is expected to provide parking relief for Pakenham Train Station commuters in wake of the suburb’s bursting developments.
According to Cardinia Shire, an additional 125 parallel parking spaces would be constructed on the docked road – should the proposal progress.
Council has resolved to eliminate the intersection due to safety fears, with motorists turning off Railway Avenue visually impaired by rail signage and crossing infrastructure.
Henry Road will serve as the new feeder route between Pakenham’s CBD and industrial precinct – pending community consultation.
It will collectively cost ratepayers up to $100,000 and will also require four busses, the 840, 927, 928 and 929, to detour.
Tradie Jake Milly, who uses Railway Avenue several times per day, said it proves the council has no hope of securing rail crossing upgrades in the near future.
“I’m sure it’ll help the traffic in the short term, but it’s only a temporary fix because nobody wants to pay for the real one,” he said.
“If council had any hope of securing level crossing removals, they wouldn’t be doing this because the level crossings are causing this safety issue with Railway Avenue.
“If they had any inkling that funding was on its way, they’d hold out before they spend $100,000 closing this road.”
According to traffic volume data, approximately 4407 vehicles use Railway Avenue each day.
Surprisingly, the road has only shown an increase of fewer than 200 vehicles per day in the last decade.
In a report prepared by Cardinia Shire, the hefty price tag of a level crossing upgrade is acknowledged.
“As the sight line issues at this intersection are created by the railway level crossing it is not possible to treat this intersection without altering the railway level crossing, which would be a multi-million dollar project,” the report read.
“The intersection of Railway Avenue and Racecourse Road is currently unsafe due to sub-standard sightlines.”
Acting Cardinia Shire CEO Mike Ellis gave further details on the potential parking increase.
“The closing of this intersection provides opportunities to improve parking for the train station along this truncated length of road,” he said.
“This will be developed in conjunction with Public Transport Victoria to discuss the potential use of some of their land to the south of Railway Avenue to allow further additional parking.”
railway level crossing, which would be a multi-million dollar project,” the report read.
