By Tanya Steele
A recent petition to the local council has been approved unanimously to take action on traffic congestion issues in a suburban street in Tecoma.
Concerns for traffic congestion on Clifford Road in Tecoma were brought to the Yarra Ranges Council at their recent meeting on 27 February.
Resident Maurice Waring said the traffic through the area was building in volume every year and he recently started a petition on 2 January, which he then brought to the council.
“Thanks for the opportunity to say a few words on behalf of the petition to substantially – and I do stress the word substantially, reduce the volume of traffic using Clifford Grove in Tecoma,” he said.
Mr Waring said at the meeting that Clifford Grove is a modest street and fairly standard for the Yarra Ranges but does have a unique elongated U-shape.
The road itself connects to both McNicol and Glenfern Road and Mr Waring said that some drivers actually view this as an opportunity to treat it as though it’s ‘a fairground ride’.
“They start at one end and are trying to get to the other end of this as quickly as possible,’ he said.
Mr Waring said a survey that was conducted last October found that on average 2880 vehicles use the road every week and almost 2000 on a weekend.
Close by Clifford Grove is McNicol Road and Mr Waring also said that every morning and every afternoon, lots of children use the road to get to school from Tecoma Primary School.
“There is no crossing that is suitable and they are using that road at the busiest time of day,” he said.
Discussion followed including, covering the potential behind turning the area into a cul de sac, installing lights along McNicol Road and possibly using one way or speed reduction options.
“The only way is overcome the problem is to break the line,” Mr Waring said, referring to Clifford Grove connecting McNicol and Glenfern Road.
Mr Waring said that a resident who had lived in the area for 20 years told him that the area gets worse every year.
Cr Child and Cr Fullager supported the motion and it was carried unanimously.
Director of environment and infrastructure Hjalmar Phillip said in response to the presentation and subsequent discussion that everything is on the table, along with the network to consider and thanked Mr Waring’s suggestions in his petition.
“Not everything can work and everything has a flow-on effect but the team will look at it,” he said.
Cr Child and Fullager supported the motion and it was carried unanimously.
Mr Warong closed the petition online on 28 February and thanked everyone who signed.
“I am pleased to report that after presenting the petition and a supporting submission to the local council our petition was approved unanimously.
The next steps we await are from infrastructure and services who will assess the situation and the options.” his online comment said.
