Doncaster East’s Deep Creek Drive turns white after Manningham Council resurfacing works
Angry residents in Melbourne’s east say costly works to make a road cooler increases glare, leaves tyre marks and has left their street looking like it was hit by “a big snowstorm”.
East
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Manningham Council has angered residents in a quiet Doncaster East street after spending $178,000 to resurface their road to reduce how much it heats up.
The council and contractor SuperSealing spent three days putting a new surface on a 700m section of Deep Creek Drive and side streets Harman Close and Simone Cres in Doncaster East this month to reduce its heat levels.
The council identified the street as having one of its hottest surfaces and told residents the new surface, CoolSeal, would look similar to concrete.
But Leanne White claimed the road now has an “off-white” colour, showed tyre marks and dirt and increases glare on drivers.
“The street looks stupid, they may as well have painted it pink,” she said.
“It might be good for the blue tongue lizard crossing the road who doesn’t want to get run over, but apart from that, it’s wasting ratepayers’ money.”
Dr White said residents were not consulted about the works and only notified a week before they were due to start.
She claimed Mayor Paul McLeish did not respond to queries and workers did not adhere to social distancing guidelines during construction.
“People are standing there admiring what a great job this is and we’re meant to be adhering to these rules,” she said.
“It’s meant to be essential works only and this is as far from essential as you can get.”
A letter to residents said the works were part of the council’s Cool Roads Program, but the program was not listed on the council’s website.
Director of city services Rachelle Quattrocchi said the CoolSeal surface cost $90,000 less than asphalt and had “environmental and urban cooling benefits”.
“When selecting methods for road resurfacing, council considers a range of factors including durability, cost and local amenity,” she said.
Ms Quattrocchi said SuperSealing notified residents of the works in March with a follow-up letter before the works started.
She said no other road resurfacing projects with CoolSeal were scheduled in Manningham but they would consider using it again.
The council did not say when a decision was made to reseal the road and if it was approved by councillors.
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