Thursday, 20 February 2020

Porter Street–Fitzsimons Lane, Templestowe

Mr GUY (Bulleen) (17:29): (1928) My adjournment matter tonight is to the Minister for Roads, and it concerns the dangerous intersection at the Porter Street and Fitzsimons Lane roundabout. This issue has been raised multiple times over many years, and nothing has been done. I am raising this issue again tonight, noting that this is a dangerous intersection that needs to be replaced. It is a well-known roundabout, the intersection of Porter Street, Fitzsimons Lane and Williamsons Road—three lanes, buses. It is horribly congested, particularly around the time of school pick-up and of course in peak hour but also nowadays on weekends. It is terrible for pedestrians, it is almost impossible for cyclists and, as I said, there are frequently accidents at this roundabout, as people will attest to. Listening to morning radio you will hear about particularly Fitzsimons Lane but certainly the roundabout at Porter Street. There are frequently accidents at that location.

The North East Link will not solve this issue around traffic because most of this is local, and while there is Eltham-bound traffic and traffic over the Yarra, which is much of the peak-hour traffic, the weekend traffic is local. The east–west traffic there is not travelling over the Yarra; it is travelling from one part of Manningham to the other. Doncaster Shoppingtown, Saturday sports and school pick-ups are all part of the reason why this intersection is horribly congested. I have said this for many years, and I will say it again: this roundabout must be abolished. The iconic apple-peel structure at its centre should be relocated. This roundabout must be signalised rather than simply making token gestures about bus lanes and the like.

My adjournment issue tonight to the Minister for Roads is very clear: to make funding available in the coming budget to fully signalise this intersection with traffic lights to replace this confusing roundabout—and to do it as soon as possible.