Gridlock growing

NARRE Warren-Cranbourne Road, Thompsons Road and the Cranbourne Bypass were the focus of hot discussion for minimising traffic congestion.
Residents said it was hard to access nearby suburbs from Cranbourne due to lack of sufficient roads, hence the continued call for a Cranbourne Bypass.
A Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road duplication between Pound Road and Thompsons Road and an upgrade to the Thompsons Road and Westernport Highway intersection have been labelled as key priorities by the City of Casey.
A resident said he was driving into Cranbourne at about 6pm and was shocked to see how “chock-a-block” Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road and Thompsons Road were.
Another resident called for two lanes to be established on Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road from Narre Warren to Cranbourne, which was getting dangerous from buses and cars trying to merge at the last minute.
Shadow Roads Minister Jacinta Allan said traffic was at a gridlock during peak periods and congestion was getting worse with the increase in population.
“Motorists battle the congested roads each morning and even peak period, with some motorists taking up to 15 minutes just to turn out of their street onto the arterial road.”
Anita Curnow from VicRoads said that since 2000, $864 million had been spent on duplication projects in the City of Casey and the agency would be focusing on east-west routes linking Casey and Cardinia.
“Our short to medium term project is the O’Shea Road extension, our medium-term projects are the Thompsons Road and Grices Road extensions over the creek and our long-term project is the possible extension of Pattersons Road,” she said.