Montrose Red Ribbons raises awareness of VicRoads’ $20m Canterbury Rd upgrade

RED ribbons have been tied around dozens of trees Montrose locals fear will be cut down in a planned upgrade of the town’s notorious roundabout.

Red ribbons show trees that could be removed on Canterbury Rd, Montrose, as part of road upgrades.

RED ribbons have been tied around dozens of trees in Montrose locals fear will be cut down, as VicRoads starts planning a $20 million upgrade of the town’s notorious roundabout.

VicRoads is in the design phase of its plan to fix peak-hour congestion along Canterbury Rd from Dorset to Mt Dandenong Tourist roads, including putting in a third outbound lane and replacing the Montrose roundabout with traffic lights.

But people living in Montrose fear the plans could destroy their quaint, bushy foothills town.

A community campaign has been started to draw attention to the tree removal, dubbed Montrose Red Ribbons.

A VicRoads information update said trees would be axed near the intersection of Canterbury, Montrose and Mt Dandenong Tourist roads, but did not say how many would go.

Leader understands more than 40 trees could be removed.

Group member and resident Sally Conner said they felt VicRoads had not informed the community of the extensive plans.

“I have no problem with progress but what VicRoads is proposing is monstrous,” Ms Conner said.

“If the trees need to go I understand the need for progress but we want to make sure the community knows.”

Montrose Township Group leader Maryka Manatunga said the community had not been consulted or given any option other than the roundabout removal.

“We were just told (by VicRoads) this is what is happening,” Ms Manatunga said.

Ms Manatunga said replacing the roundabout with traffic lights would split the town in two.

“The expanse of this intersection in some areas (would become) eight lanes across. We feel this is massive for our township to manage, and completely over-engineered,” she said.

She said crossing the road could be fraught with danger for the elderly, and parents with children waiting on small traffic islands to cross over to Montrose Primary School.

Fellow Montrose resident of 34 years Jeni Nathanielsz said something needed to be done to ease congestion during peak times but VicRoads’ plan compromised safety.

“We are challenging VicRoads to develop a plan that works both for commuters and for our community,” Ms Nathanielsz said.

She said Montrose was the gateway to the Dandenong Ranges and known for its greenery, safety and walkability.

“Removing the mature trees that border our community will destroy a feature that we all hold dear,” Ms Nathanielsz said.

VicRoads metro south east operations director Michael Barker said extremely high traffic volumes on Canterbury Rd meant the roundabout was unable to work efficiently.

Mr Barker said the plans would improve safety for pedestrians at Montrose.

He said there would be a community information session later this year.

VicRoads estimates during the afternoon peak about 1900 vehicles an hour use Canterbury Rd heading to the Yarra Valley.