Road, rail and air keep Geelong close
Day trippers from Melbourne as well as Geelong locals will enjoy the benefits when the Geelong Ring Road is completed later this year. Extending 23 kilometres along Geelong's western outskirts from the Princes Freeway at Corio to the Princes Highway at Waurn Ponds, it will have a travel time of 15 minutes compared with what is now a 25 to 60-minute trip. Drivers will avoid up to 29 sets of traffic lights. A total of $384 million was provided by the Australian and Victorian governments for the first three sections of the road to Waurn Ponds, with commitments from both governments for further funding to extend the Ring Road over the Princes Highway and along Anglesea Road. The manager of engineering for the City of Greater Geelong, David Hannah, says the completed Ring Road will deliver great benefits for the community and businesses in terms of improved travel times for freight from Geelong and regional areas of southwest Victoria. "It's a great thing for Geelong and south-west Victoria," he says. "We are getting trucks out of the centre of Geelong, which has safety implications as well as improved efficiency for industry." La Trobe Terrace, the key north-south road running through Geelong, carries 45,000 vehicles a day. When the Ring Road is complete Mr Hannah predicts this number could fall by 10,000. "That will be a help to Geelong in terms of relieving some of the congestion on that road and also provide spin-offs to other roads connecting with La Trobe Terrace." The road will improve accessibility for people living in the Geelong region as well as providing improved access for the tourism destinations of the surf coast and south-west Victoria. The first two sections of the road, 15 kilometres from the Princes Freeway at Corio to the Hamilton Highway at Fyansford, opened in December 2008. The final 7.5 kilometres to the Princes Highway at Waurn Ponds (section three) is due to be finished by the end of 2009. Now that traffic is back to normal after the summer-holiday peak, VicRoads will carry out traffic counts to monitor use. Planning is also under way for the fourth section, which will be completed in three stages: (i) connection from Geelong Ring Road to Anglesea Road; (ii) connection from Anglesea Road to Princes Highway West; and (iii) Surfcoast Highway connection. The Federal Government has committed an additional $107.5 million and the state government $128 million. The governments have also committed $110 million each to duplicate the Princes Highway west from Waurn Ponds to Winchelsea. As VicRoads project director for the Ring Road, Tony Hedley has been involved in the project for five years. But planning dates back much further. In fact, Mr Hedley says, the reservation for the Ring Road has been in place since 1980. At peak times, 400 to 500 people have been working on the road. A project team of 25 people will continue with the completion of stage three and the extensions. Another transport development that would help attract business to the Geelong region is a planned intermodal interchange - a freight hub that would enable safe and efficient transfer of general freight and bulk cargoes between road and rail. The City of Greater Geelong commissioned a report which identified the need for such a facility and, after considering a number of sites, a preferred site at Lara has been identified. The council is now investigating taking the project to the next stage with consultants and developers. The City of Greater Geelong's manager of planning strategy and economic development, Terry Demeo, says the proposed site is close to Avalon Airport so it can provide synergy as an air-road-rail link. "Avalon is already a very busy domestic terminal," he says. "It has significant additional capacity and Geelong is very supportive of its endeavours to establish an international terminal. "Given the availability of land in that precinct, the City firmly supports the growth in Avalon's aeronautical and related industries. Having a budget international carrier fly into Avalon would be a fantastic initiative for the local economy." |
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