A notorious Woodend intersection has been dubbed “a lesson in irresponsible planning” as it moves up Macedon Ranges Council’s priority list.
Users of the High/Urquhart Street intersection have reported an alarming number of ‘near misses’ and say it’s the result of “development not done right”.
They contend with main street congestion, a confusing layout with several turning points and high volumes of traffic accessing service hot spots including the town’s only supermarket and train station.
Mayor Janet Pearce said complaints about the intersection traffic had been persistent since supermarket giant Coles re-positioned itself at the busy corner in November last year.
“It’s been over a year and the issues still exist. I don’t want to wait until there is a major accident,” Cr Pearce said.
Cr Pearce raised alarm at the council’s November meeting and urged council to advocate for safety improvements with Regional Roads Victoria.
Woodend’s Garry Dudderidge said council couldn’t afford to wait any longer with chaotic traffic forcing road users to change their route around the town and resulting in an increase of traffic in nearby residential streets. His Firebird Motors workshop is opposite the intersection and customers have aired their frustrations.
“Traffic gets banked up and it turns into complete chaos. People try to avoid the intersection and all of a sudden there is more traffic using little back streets that never got used before,” Mr Dudderidge said.
“It’s a complete shemozzle and something has got to be done about it.”
While complaints have increased about traffic in the past year, the intersection has long presented problems.
Macedon Ranges Residents Association secretary Christine Pruneau said past planning and development around the intersection had been “irresponsible”.
“It’s a lesson in what happens when you want the development more than you want it be done properly,” she said.
“This intersection and development around it was always going to be a problem but no one has wanted to deal with it. This is the sort of outcome you get when development is not done right.”
Macedon Ranges Council will meet with Regional Roads Victoria to discuss safety concerns before January 30.
