By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
BUILDING anything less than a freeway-standard bypas extension to Portarlington Rd would be “short-sighted planning”, according to the Drysdale Clifton Springs Community Association.
The association’s Neil McGuinness said VicRoads’ plan for traffic lights on section 4C was a “demonstrably bad decision”.
“Public opinion and all the evidence shows it should be constructed as a freeway,” Mr McGuinness said.
“Everyone is concerned about traffic in Geelong’s CBD but, if they build it as an urban road, what’s the point of going along the ring road? Drivers will go for the shorter distance through the city.”
Mr McGuinness said failing to upgrade the link to freeway standard would mean “significantly longer” travel times on the ring road.
“The decision to consider this as an urban road ignores the problems of traffic congestion that exist already and will increase inevitably as the population of the Bellarine increases.
“Extending the ring road as a freeway intersecting with the Portarlington Road would boost economic development, including tourism, on the Bellarine Peninsula.”
Mr McGuinness said the association had included the issue in a list of questions to federal election candidates “to keep the pressure on”.
Ward councillor Rod Macdonald said council had initially pushed for the ring road extension to be a freeway.
“The final decision came down that it would be an arterial with multiple lanes. It was VicRoads’ call on that.
“We pushed for it but in the end council had to accept the position.
“The argument was that a freeway tends to cut communities off and the idea was to try to minimise that. A freeway creates issues with crossovers and cutting off roads that had been there for 50 years.
“It was aimed at trying to reduce the arguments and comment around when the current ring road was being built and created a lot of community debate.”
Cr Macdonald said any future upgrade to freeway standard would be unlikley for the same reasons.
“The planners wanted to retain the connectivity between the existing suburbs like Grovedale and Marshall with the new areas of Armstrong Creek.
“I understand people’s concerns but if the arterial has proper synchronised lights you can get good traffic flow and travel through at a fairly reasonable pace.”
Cr Macdonald said he anticipated the arterial would have a speed limit of 70km/h or 80km/h.
