Presented by Robert Clark MP		www.robertclark.net

Traffic light changes needed to cut Station Street/Whitehorse Road congestion

News Release - 24 August 2006

The Member for Box Hill, Robert Clark, has called on the State Government to install more turning arrows and revise traffic light sequences to ease traffic congestion at the Station Street and Whitehorse Road intersection.

Mr Clark told Parliament last week [22/8] that growing traffic volumes meant turning vehicles were now clogging the intersection and adding to the delays for traffic trying to travel north or south along Station Street.

Mr Clark also criticised the time being taken by the State Government and Whitehorse Council in preparing and implementing a strategy plan to improve traffic flow, parking and public transport around Box Hill.

"Over recent years, traffic flow along Station Street has become increasingly congested. In peak periods, long lines of traffic are forming both north of Whitehorse Road seeking to travel south, and south of Whitehorse Road stretching back through the Box Hill district centre as far as Oxford Street and beyond," Mr Clark told Parliament.

"Vehicles making turns into and out of Station Street are experiencing ever-greater difficulties. With the increasing volumes of traffic, the median areas in Whitehorse Road can no longer hold enough right-turning vehicles to clear the number of vehicles seeking to turn.

"This means that lines of right-turning vehicles are banking up in several directions, in turn restricting the passage of vehicles seeking to move north or south straight through the intersection. Clashes between vehicles seeking to complete a turn at a light change and vehicles seeking to move off on the green light are causing further obstructions and delays.

"As well, pedestrian flow crossing Station Street on the south side of Whitehorse Road is restricting the number of vehicles able to turn left southwards into Station Street from Whitehorse Road, causing delays for both private vehicles and buses, as well as slowing westbound traffic in Whitehorse Road."

Mr Clark said that the Bracks Government had declared Box Hill to be a transit city in 2001, which was supposed to mean the government would support it with appropriate transport facilities. However, the only substantial transport improvement in recent years has been the tramline extension which was initiated by the Kennett Government.

"All we have had from the Bracks government and the City of Whitehorse has been a long series of studies that seem to lead to nothing more than another study," Mr Clark said.

"We have had a Connecting Transport Services study in 2001, an Urban Design Framework study and a Box Hill Transport Interchange Concept Design in 2002, and an Issues and Opportunities Study in 2005.

"When Whitehorse Council released the 2005 study, it was supposed to lead to the exhibition of a Draft Structure Plan in early 2006 for comment. Instead all the council has done is issue a revised version of the Issues and Opportunities Study dated April this year and say it would issue a draft structure plan in mid-2006.

"As of today, that statement is still all that is showing on the council's web site."

Mr Clark said the government must not use the long-delayed Middleborough Road grade separation as an excuse for inaction, because that was highly unlikely to shift enough traffic off Station Street to solve the problem.

"The government and Whitehorse Council need to get their act together on Box Hill's future and in the meantime the government should at least get on with improving the signalisation and traffic flow at the Station Street and Whitehorse Road intersection.

"Residents of Box Hill and beyond cannot wait forever while the State government and Whitehorse Council play pass the parcel on their responsibilities to finalise their plans and then actually take action to improve traffic flow, parking and public transport around Box Hill."