By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
AN APPLICATION for a third Drysdale service station indicates Vicroads proposes to replace the town’s congested Jetty-Grubb-Portarlington roads roundabout with traffic lights.
But Vicroads said it was only investigating and had no plans to upgrade the intersection.
A Caltex service station with six double car fuel pumps and two for trucks is proposed for High St, about 150 metres from the roundabout.
A traffic study supporting the proposal said the major intersection, the subject of motorist complaints for several years, would be signalised.
The study said no timeframe was in place for installation of traffic lights but indicated that Portarlington Rd would become four lanes entering the intersection.
Calls to ease the roundabout’s daily peak-hour snarl date back to 2008, with Vicroads promising to fix the traffic nightmare.
An extension of the Geelong ring road to Portarlington Rd is also under investigation.
However, the traffic study claimed the roundabout worked at “very good” to “excellent” levels during morning and afternoon peaks.
The service station plans have drawn the ire of Drysdale Clifton Springs Community Association because the development is in a rural living zone.
An association online response said the development “would introduce an industrial-scale development into a rural living zone, contradicting many planning policies”.
“Drysdale has two service stations already – where is the statistical and demographic evidence to show that three service stations would be economically viable?
“If the proposal succeeds in the absence of such evidence, the result could be that one of the three service stations fails economically or that all three see reduced profits.”
The association said possible approval for another supermarket in Clifton Springs’ Jetty Rd estate could include a service station, placing “even greater economic pressure” on the existing stations.
The association’s Doug Carson said traffic lights would fail to fix the peak-hour congestion.
“The congestion will be the same at the peak hours with lights. At least the roundabout lets people flow through.
“I don’t think you can fix it. It’s only a relatively minor period of time and drivers just have to adjust.
“What we’re pushing for is a bypass around Drysdale but that could be 10 years away.
“If they let them put the servo there they won’t want a bypass of their new station and we’ll be even further behind the eight ball.”
Vicroads regional director William Tieppo said the service station developer had been “advised” of an investigation into impacts of projected population growth area’s arterial road network.
“This investigation may identify the need to upgrade the intersection of Geelong-Portarlington Rd/Grubb Rd/Jetty Rd.
“At this stage there are no plans to upgrade this intersection.”
