Lights on at Torquay crossroad

TRAFFIC lights at the intersection of Beach Rd and the Surf Coast Highway in Torquay were switched on yesterday — more than two months after roadworks were finished.

The community has campaigned for traffic lights to be installed at the intersection — dubbed Torquay’s worst — since 2015, with the Surf Coast Shire pledging $600,000 to the project.

Work started last August and was completed before Christmas.

Thousands of visitors are expected to flock to Torquay for the Easter long weekend and the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach.

VicRoads southwest regional director Mark Koliba said power had been connected at the intersection last week.

“Installing new traffic signals is a detailed process and there is a lot of work that follows once the traffic signal poles are in place,” he said.

Surf Coast Shire general manager of governance and infrastructure Anne Howard thanked the community for its patience.

VicRoads and The Surf Coast Shire declined to detail what had caused the delay in switching on the traffic lights.

Over on the Bellarine Peninsula, much-need traffic lights at the notorious Melaluka Rd intersection are yet to be switched on, even though VicRoads said in January they were scheduled to be operational “by the end of February”.