Nearly there

By Melissa Grant
Part of the road, between Henry Road and Heritage Boulevard has been split into two carriageways, while traffic lights have been activated at the intersection of Henry Road and Webster Way.
Councillor Brett Owen said he was pleased the first stage of the $4.5 million project was virtually finished, but the council had hurdles to clear to complete the next stage.
Cr Owen said the council was still trying to acquire a parcel of land required for stage two and was also waiting on approvals from VicTrack to upgrade the railway line.
“Council is committed to getting (VicTrack) approval for further duplication over the railway line and the council has budgeted for those approvals,” he said.
Pedestrian crossings, with boomgates, are proposed on both sides of the road.
Mayor Bill Pearson said it was vital that the council secured government funds for the full upgrade of the railway crossing, part of stage two.
“The biggest worry is we have to get funding for the railway crossing, otherwise we will have a bottleneck,” he said.
It is also proposed that another set of traffic lights, at either Duncan Drive or Cunningham Crescent, would be installed during construction of the project’s second stage.
General manager assets and services Mike Ellis said it was likely that the western end of Main Street would be aligned with Cunningham Crescent to create a signalised intersection.
The council has set aside $400,000 in its 2009-10 capital works program to design the second stage of the duplication with construction expected to start next financial year.