A RADICAL plan to prevent cars turning right into Willaton St from Furlong Rd and vice versa has upset St Albans businesses.
Ginifer Milkbar owner Arif Yalinsel said the proposal would bankrupt him.
“We are going to have a problem,” Mr Yalinsel said.
“There won’t be people who want to go round the block to come and shop here, come on.”
Gajda Junior Cafe and Grill owner Vlado Markovski also opposed the change.
“I might as well call the council to run the business and go on the dole,” Mr Markovski said.
“If it is too hard to come in and go out then we lose people who want to park and have a drink or a meal or coffee,” he said.
Brimbank Traffic Management Unit’s Sergeant Rod Stein confirmed to Star that he would advocate in favour of the change to Brimbank Council.
“What I am interested in doing is making it only a left turn into Willaton, and left turn only out of Willaton,” Sgt Stein said.
Currently, drivers heading west along the Furlong Rd rail crossing cannot turn right into Willaton St between 4pm6pm Monday to Friday only.
There is no ban on righthand turns from Willaton St into Furlong Rd at present. Access was restricted last year in response to three Cairnlea residents who died when the car they were travelling in was hit on the railway crossing by a V/Line train.
From Page 1.
But Sgt Stein said traffic was still banking up across the railway lines despite the time restriction, even outside of peak hours.
Rumours that he wanted to physically block off Willaton St at the intersection with Furlong Rd and turn it into a culdesac were wrong, he said.
Sgt Stein said he sympathised with traders on Willaton Rd who were concerned that their business would suffer, but safety was his main priority.
“Even traders on Gratz St and Gooding St (further up from Willaton St) have told me they are against it, but I have to stop people getting killed at that railway crossing.”
Motorists could drive further down Furlong Rd and use a side street or a roundabout to double back to enter Willaton St or to exit, they can drive north on Willaton St and go round the block, he said.
Too many motorists are being caught turning right into Willaton St during the restricted times, an offence that carries a $110 fine, Sgt Stein said.
“We are getting between 15 and 20 vehicles an hour breaking the restriction,” he said.
In the long term, the railway track needs to be undergrounded, he said.
Mr Yalinsel criticised the widening of Furlong Rd last year, which created an extra merging lane, as a waste of money.
“That is when they introduced the righthand turn ban, and while the work was going on we lost $1500 a week,” he said.
“‘Okay, we will suffer,’ we thought, ‘but it will pass.’ Now we are getting back on our feet and they want to block traffic.”
One resident said the main problem was inconsiderate motorists who failed to keep open the clearways on Furlong Rd.
St Albans Traders Association secretary Asip Demiri said he was furious with the proposal.
“It’s another nail in the coffin of St Albans,” Mr Demiri said.
“Where is the leadership of the council on this? Where is the consultation?”
Kororoit Ward councillor Troy Atanasovski tabled a petition with 60 signatures opposing the current norighthandturn policy at last week’s council meeting.
“We have to fight against this plan. I will be opposing banning restricting right hand turns into and out of Willaton – it’s not good for business,” Cr Atanasovski.
