VICROADS was preparing to advise the State Government during October last year they would not be able to fulfil a pre-election promise to fix the notorious St Albans level crossing during the Coalition’s first term.
Last week, Asip Demiri from the St Albans Traders Association gave Star internal working documents from VicRoads concerning the St Albans Grade Separation Project at Main Rd East and West, obtained under Freedom of Information laws.
The documents included an October 2012 notification from VicRoads Chief Operating Officer Bruce Gidley to Roads Minister Terry Mulder which said that while the Coalition Government gave an election commitment to plan and to begin to remove the St Albans level crossing in its first term of government, because no updated business case for the St Albans crossing was requested in the 2011 budget process, the government would not be able to meet its election commitment to Brimbank residents.
Mr Gidley wrote that if $500,000 of initial funding was provided in the 2012/13 budget, VicRoads could commence “preliminary construction works prior to construction funding being approved”.
A spokesperson for Mr Mulder confirmed his office did not receive the document and “that the Minister would not have seen it”.
The document has not been signed by Mr Gidley and it is not clear whether the memo was a draft document or ever officially released.
However, Mr Demiri said various governments have promised to fix the St Albans crossing for more than a decade but nothing has eventuated except repeat business studies on the proposal.
He said 18 people have died at the crossing.
“We’ve been lied to for 10 years and there are no more left,”Mr Demiri said.
“If they (the government) were serious about upgrading the crossing they would have started straight away, in their first term of government.”
Mr Mulder said the State Government “already has the Main Rd, St Albans crossing on its list of 12 level crossings to remove, the largest level crossing removal program in the state’s history.”
“On behalf of the Coalition Government, VicRoads has already started consulting with locals about the project design as to whether it should be road under rail or rail under road,” he said.
