Happy crowd … St Albans traders and residents were delighted when the State Government made an election promise to upgrade the notorious Main Rd railway crossing. 56423 Picture: DAMJAN JANEVSKI
By Alesha Capone
ST ALBANS traders and residents were overjoyed when the State Government promised to spend $82.5 million to fix the notoriously dangerous Main Rd railway crossing last week.
However, the commitment depends on the ALP winning the upcoming State Election and the Federal Government devoting an additional $82.5 million to the project, which will cost $165 million in total.
But the St Albans community still welcomed the government’s pledge to implement a grade separation of the level crossing.
Roads Minister Tim Pallas said the project would eliminate one of Melbourne’s worst level crossings and he had “no doubts” it would go ahead if the government was re-elected.
“I’ve spoken with the Federal Minister, Minister (Anthony) Albanese, about this and they of course will make their own comment about it but this is not taking them by surprise,” he said.
The government’s announcement came after a recent police crackdown on illegal behaviour at the intersection, to enforce a Brimbank City Council safety-awareness campaign.
Acting Sergeant Dave England from the Brimbank Highway Patrol said 200 tickets were issued during the first eight days of the operation.
Pedestrians were given $60 fines for walking against a red light at the crossing, while drivers parked on the railway lines incurred fines of $597.
After the government announced its intention to fix the intersection last week, Asip Demiri from the St Albans Traders Association said “this is the best thing that can happen in St Albans … residents now have 165 million reasons to celebrate”.
President of the traders’ group, Sebastian Agricola, said he believed the upgrade would create new jobs and bring more people into St Albans.
“Looking back through the archives, it’s been an issue since the 1950s, so it’s been a long, hard haul over many successive governments,” he said.
St Albans Secondary College assistant principal Craig Jennings said the crossing upgrade would improve student punctuality, as pupils who “left for school in plenty of time” were often delayed by long waits at the boomgates.
Brimbank City Council administrator Peter Lewinsky welcomed the announcement.
“This project has been one of the council’s main priorities of the nine grade rail level crossings in Brimbank,” he said.
“The grade separation of the rail line in St Albans will significantly improve the traffic flow and safety of the station precinct. This is very important given the growth of the St Albans campus of Victoria University, the demand for commercial office and retail space and the vibrant retail shopping strips within the town centre.”
However, Western Metropolitan Liberal MP Bernie Finn said the government had had 11 years to fix the crossing and a promise made a fortnight before an election might not eventuate.
“This sort of promise is an insult to our intelligence,” he said.
