By Kirsty Ross
WHILE planning for the new suburb of Point Cook in the mid- 1990s, Wyndham City Council created the Palmers Rd extension project.
Truganina Ward councillor Kim McAliney said the project had already come a long way, but still needed another cash injection to ensure its completion.
The council will lobby the State Government for $1.4m to enable the project’s completion.
“The completion of these three road projects will have a significant impact on the Point Cook road network,” Cr McAliney said.
Work on the $28.6m Palmers Road extension begun in July 2006 after the council’s lengthy campaign to connect Palmers Rd to the Princes Freeway.
Six months on, earthworks are near completion and construction of the Princes Freeway overpass has started.
During the planning stages for Point Cook, the council realised that Point Cook Rd and Forsyth Rd would not be able to handle the huge increase in traffic that the new suburb would create.
It was also realised that a new connection to the freeway would be needed.
As a result, the council obtained some of the land needed to complete the Palmers Rd extension.
Cr McAliney said the State Government committed $26.9m to the project in 2002. Wyndham Council added $1.7m.
The Palmers Rd extension will involve a new two-lane, two-way road built between the Princes Freeway and Dunnings Rd in Point Cook.
“Traffic signals will be installed at the intersections of Palmers Rd and The Strand, and Palmers Rd and Dunnings Rd,” Cr McAliney said.
A new bridge will be constructed over Skeleton Creek and an overpass at the Princes Freeway.
“Access to the freeway will be provided for traffic travelling to and from Melbourne,” she said.
The project is expected to be completed in late 2007.
Cr McAliney said Point Cook residents would soon begin to see a vast improvement in traffic congestion.
Wyndham Council expenses will also fund the $2.58m upgrade to the Dunnings Rd-Boardwalk Boulevard intersection – including new signals.
It has also allocated $400,000 for the upgrade and signalisation of the Point Cook Rd-Dunnings Rd intersection.
Hobsons Bay City Council had committed $150,000 to the project.
