Narre Warren residents highlight major issue with road upgrade

Narre Warren residents say a major road upgrade focused on improving safety has actually created a dangerous situation for a nearby pony club.

Residents and motorists have slammed a major road upgrade in Melbourne’s southeast, saying it’s badly designed and dangerous.

Three U-turns are being created in a 1.5km duplication on busy Narre Warren North Rd, but the first one built is already causing concerns.

The U-turn section barely has enough room for large vehicles to swing around as well as motorists towing horse floats to get to the nearby pony club.

Already one vehicle and float has clipped the kerb, risking the welfare of horses, sparking concerns about the $63 million project.

Hallam Valley Pony Club president Ian Lever said U-turns were “just ridiculous” and near-impossible for horse floats, as revealed in a video from the site.

“On an asphalt road, they’ll tear the tyres off the rims trying to spin six wheels, as sharp as you can.

“And you can’t go very fast at all when you’re trying to do a U-turn with livestock in the back.’’

Upset residents outside the construction site want a resolution. Picture Rebecca Michael.

A second U-turn with signals is being created just past near Ivens Reserve on Crawley Rd, where the pony club is located. But motorists say this should be a normal T-intersection with traffic lights.

Complaints to the road-building contractors and Major Road Projects Victoria had fallen on deaf ears, Mr Lever said.

“They don’t get it. It’s not rocket science.’’

Visitors to the pony club will simply avoid the venue, he said, because it was too dangerous for their horses.

The new road layout would also cause problems for large vehicles, he said. The nearby estate has large blocks with many residents owning trucks, caravans and boats.

Major Road Projects Victoria program director Brendan Pauwels said the Narre Warren North Road upgrade would create greater capacity and improve safety for the 14,000 motorists who use this road daily.

“An independent road safety audit has determined that the final design for the upgrade provides the best safety outcome for all road users and members of the wider community,” he said.

Hallam Valley Pony Club president Ian Lever said U-turns were “just ridiculous” and near-impossible for horse floats. Picture Rebecca Michael.

But Ray Cupido, spokesman for the Narre Warren North Road Action Group, said the design was flawed.

The community’s views had been ignored, he said, and residents wanted the traffic lights that had been part of the original plans in 2018.

“Installing traffic lights would get rid of all these dangerous U-turns,’’ Mr Cupido said.

“It’s a simple solution and all we want is what the Andrews government promised in 2018 before the last election.’’

Three information sessions were held for residents, he said, but to no avail.

“The community totally rejected their design and told them so. They emailed us and told us they would take into account our objections when they do their final design.’’

Two engineers in the group have also demonstrated that the U-turns won’t work, he said.

Work began last December and is due to be completed by the middle of next year.

Major Road Projects Victoria has said improving safety was the key focus of the project.

It said road safety experts had said the final design was safer than the original, which was not supported by the Department of Transport or the City of Casey.

It said it had engaged with the local action group more than 36 times throughout the project.

The design of the U-turn near the pony club had been modified to ensure the movements occur under a green arrow and there was enough width for a vehicle towing a horse-trailer or caravan.