Heat Turned up on States Worst Redspots

FRUSTRATED road users seeing 'red' over congestion are being urged to nominate these Redspots during RACV and Leader Community Newspaper's Redspot Survey.

The survey is held every two years to gather information from Victorians who nominate congested road locations or public transport services across the state and is proven to work at getting these Redspots fixed, says RACV Chief Engineer Traffic and Transport Peter Daly.

"The public has used the Redspot Survey to highlight the extreme congestion at the Springvale Road level crossing with this section of road consistently coming number one in our Redspot Survey," said Mr Daly.

"Their concerns were heard resulting in a great win for the campaign with the construction last year of the $140 million Springvale Road, Nunawading railway overpass, greatly improving travel for the 50,000 vehicles that use it each day.

"This location was the number one Redspot for the past three surveys with RACV studies showing it could take more than 10 minutes to crawl less than 1.6km along Springvale Road."

Premier John Brumby, in announcing the Springvale Road railway works, said the project was "fantastic news for Melbourne's east, improving safety for drivers and train passengers and tackling congestion at the RACV's top Redspot location."

Thousands of people participated in the 2008 Redspot Survey, highlighting Redspots throughout Melbourne and regional centres including Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Wodonga.

The release of the 2008 survey results saw over $190 million in funding announcements made, with a commitment by all levels of government to fix problems flagged by the public.

"Traffic delays in Melbourne cost the community around $3 billion per year in additional travel time and resource usage* and RACV is committed to seeing that wastage cut by highlighting those areas causing delays," said Mr Daly.

Whether you are driving, riding a bicycle or motorbike or catching public transport, RACV wants to hear from you about those congestion spots that make you 'see red'.

"RACV transport engineering experts will analyse the results and discuss these with VicRoads, local councils and the Department of Transport in an effort to fix the congestion issues raised by the public," he said.

"Congestion on our roads creates enormous difficulties for all road users and it seems to be getting worse, with the level of frustration experienced by road users increasing along with the delays they experience on our roads.

"The Redspot Survey is the chance to have your say and make a difference, knowing that your vote will count when it comes to improving congestion."

Participate in the Redspot Survey by completing a survey form online at www.redspotsurvey.com.au, or in the June edition of RoyalAuto and in Leader newspapers.

These are just some of the roads identified in the 2008 Redspot Survey on which work has begun or funds have been allocated to improve the situation:

• Springvale Rd/Whitehorse Rd, Nunawading - a new railway overpass was funded by the Federal and State Governments at a cost of $140 million
• Sunbury Rd/Bulla-Diggers Rest Rd, Bulla - the State Government funded an $800,000 upgrade for the roundabout, which was completed in May 2009. This included extra lanes at the roundabout and traffic lights on Bulla-Diggers Rest Rd.
• Reserve Rd and Park Rd/Tulip St, Cheltenham - Bayside Council and the Federal Government funded a $395,000 project to install traffic lights at this intersection. The lights were installed in June 2009.
• Cranbourne Rd/Mooroduc Hwy, Frankston - a P-turn was implemented as a short-term measure to reduce congestion. The construction of Peninsula Link, at a cost of $759 million and due for completion in 2013, is the longer term solution to this Redspot.
• Pound Rd/South Gippsland Hwy, Dandenong South - as part of a $36.8 million State Government project, traffic lights are to be installed at this location to improve safety and control movements. Works are expected to be completed by end 2011.
• Milne Rd/Ringwood-Warrandyte Rd, Ringwood North - Manningham City Council and VicRoads funded traffic lights at this intersection as well as widening of both roads. The project is due for completion by mid-2010.

*Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics, Working Paper 71 - Estimating urban traffic and congestion cost trends for Australian cities.

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