Elsie Lange
Hume council will write to the state government to request the temporary traffic lights at the intersection of Macedon and Barkly streets be made permanent as soon as possible.
At a meeting on Monday, August 8, councillor Jack Medcraft said the lights installed to alleviate congestion during the Gap Road level crossing removal project had improved traffic management in the town.
“People were a little bit hesitant at the start when these lights were put in and wondered how they would actually work,” Cr Medcraft said.
He said those living on side streets, from Barkly down to Powlett streets, were finding it easier to get onto the main road.
“I think it’s been a learning curve for everybody that these lights do work,” Cr Medcraft said.
“The synchonrisation of them probably needs to be tweaked when they do the proper installation but I think they really did achieve first of all, safety on that intersection.
“A number of cars were T-boned on that corner, people would come down Macedon Street and think, ‘I’ll turn left’, and had their blinker on, then they’d change their mind.
“A number of people, including my good wife, got T-boned there one day.”
Councillor Jarrod Bell said he understood Sunbury MP Josh Bull had secured funding for a business case for making the lights permanent, but support Cr Medcraft’s push to bring the installation forward.
He said he also understood issues raised by the community had been related to the sequencing of the lights.
“The temporary lights have been a little divisive in the Sunbury community, however I fully agree with you that they have been a net benefit to the community,” Cr Bell said.
In June, Star Weekly spoke with Goonawarra resident Charles Robertson who was frustrated by the lack of synchronisation of the temporary lights.
