By Taylah Eastwell
The Montrose community have had a win after years of advocating for the State Government to amend design plans proposed for a popular local intersection.
The roundabout joining Mt Dandenong Tourist Rd, Swansea Rd and Montrose Rd with Canterbury Rd caters for high volumes of traffic as an integral stretch of road linking Melbourne’s eastern suburbs with the Yarra Valley and Dandenong’s.
VicRoads released plans to improve congestion and traffic flow through the area in 2017, which originally involved removing over 100 trees to make room for eight lanes of traffic and replacing the Montrose roundabout with a traffic light intersection.
The original plans also included a re-designed entrance to Mt Dandenong Tourist Rd.
The Montrose community had strong views about the proposal, with many fearing the modern upgrades would destroy their leafy, village-style foothills township.
According to VicRoads website, since the first community consultation in December 2017 the authority have heard and shared the community’s wish to make sure the upgrade fits in with the character and needs of Montrose.
Member of Montrose Township Group Chelsey Cooper said the proposed upgrades are still quite a divisive issue for Montrose residents.
“Quite a few people want to keep the roundabout, and quite a few think it needs to change because it can get quite congested,” Ms Cooper said.
Ms Cooper said the Montrose Township Group looked at what elements were most important to locals.
The group have been advocating for the plans to be amended in a way that increases safety for drivers and pedestrians while maintaining Montrose’s homely village feel.
“There was a lot of concern about Montrose feeling more like Bayswater and those industrial areas and losing our village feel, and the other concern was the trees. Originally over 100 trees were being removed to make way for the expansion,” Ms Cooper said.
“They just hadn’t considered the fact that there are hundreds of school aged students that cross in Montrose or what a safe crosswalk looks like in this area. They hadn’t considered those things until we said how we live here,” she explained.
Through discussions with VicRoads, Monbulk MP James Merlino, Casey MP Tony Smith and the Yarra Ranges Council, some amendments have been made to the design plans.
James Merlino said he worked closely with the Montrose Township Group.
“We needed to balance ensuring the intersection was as safe as possible alongside delivering an upgrade the community was happy with,” Mr Merlino said.
“The intersection is the gateway to the Dandenongs, so protecting as much of the vegetation as we could was a really important part of the project,” he said.
Ms Cooper said VicRoads have taken their concerns onboard and updated the plans “quite a bit”.
“If you compare what they came up with originally to what they are now, they are considering much more, such as how we retain our village feel and what that looks like, how they can keep as many trees as possible and they have also adjusted pedestrian walkways to make them safer and more accessible,” she said.
The updated design includes replacing the Montrose roundabout with traffic signals, providing an additional lane in both inbound and outbound directions, providing dedicated right hand turning lanes and left slip lanes and a new pedestrian signal on Mt Dandenong Tourist Rd.
The new plans also include a new pedestrian crossing on Canterbury Road at Stradbroke Road with improved access to the CFA, according to the VicRoads website.
Over 60 trees will be saved from the original plans to remove 100, with plans for the wood to be repurposed in the Montrose community to allow the legacy of the local trees to live on.
While there have been many alterations to the original designs, the Montrose Township Group said there are still a few points that have not been considered.
“They are maintaining a 70 kilometre speed limit through town and we don’t feel comfortable with that given that the round about slows people down at the moment,” Ms Cooper said.
Montrose Resident Debbie Brasher is hopeful that the new traffic lights will ease congestion by causing more gaps in traffic.
“Lights will give everyone the chance to go. Coming out of Ascalon Road to turn onto Mt Dandenong Rd is a nightmare, so hopefully the lights create more gaps. I think it will be better at school time,” she said.
VicRoads conducted online consultation sessions last week where the updated plans were presented to community members. Locals had the chance to ask questions and give feedback.
The community is encouraged to have their say through an online feedback form available on the VicRoads website. The authority are accepting forms until December 31 2020.
