FARCE & THE FURIOUS
Chaos as makeshift signals fail again
GEELONG’S traffic light woes continue, with revelations a second set has been running on a diesel generator since last October.
Residents say the lights — at the corner of Barwon Heads Rd and Central Boulevard, Armstrong Creek — have failed multiple times.
Yesterday, the lights at the notorious Melaluka and Portarlington roads intersection in Leopold — which are still being run by a generator more than two months after being turned on — failed again.
There was traffic chaos with the lights out of action for six hours.
THE local traffic light situation has worsened with revelations a second set has been running on a diesel generator since October.
Residents have seen the traffic lights — at the intersection of Barwon Heads Rd and Central Boulevard, Armstrong Creek — fail multiple times.
On Thursday, the Geelong Advertiser reported traffic lights at the notorious Melaluka and Portarlington roads intersection in Leopold were still being run by a generator more than two months after being turned on, and that they had failed at least twice.
There was traffic chaos yesterday afternoon in Leopold, with the Melaluka Rd lights failing again — this time for about six hours.
Traffic management staff were deployed to direct traffic, which had backed up sig- nificantly due to the problem. m.
About 5.15pm, a technician an sent out by VicRoads tended to a power box connected to the he lights and generator, and nd restored the lights to working ng order. A witness said it took ok several minutes to fix the he problem.
VicRoads was first alerted ed to the traffic light failure at 11am.
A VicRoads spokesman said id technicians had yet to establish sh the reason for the fault, but ut confirmed the unit was isoolated from the traffic light nettwork and had been en experiencing power and comm- munication issues.
Leopold resident and truck driver Gavin Pulford said the Leopold traffic lights had failed at least twice previously, and that VicRoads maintenance operators had told him the generator failed because it had run out of fuel.
VicRoads dodged questions from the Geelong Advertiser as to when the Armstrong Creek traffic lights would be connected to mains power, or why there had been such a delay.
Instead, it directed blame towards Powercor and residential developers, and said: “The new traffic lights at Barwon Heads Rd and Central Boulevard have significantly improved safety for the local community.”
South Barwon MP Andrew
Katos said he had received multiple complaints about lights at the intersection of Barwon Heads Rd and Central Boulevard at Armstrong Creek running on a diesel-powered generator since October.
Mr Katos said he had witnessed the lights fail, due to a lack of power, several times since October.
“I think it is a genuine con- cern. The shopping centre has been open since October — that is almost nine months,” he said. “I find this quite concerning — are there other ones in Geelong that also run out of power?”
A $1.2 million safety upgrade to the MelalukaPortarlington Rd intersection in Leopold was announced in 2017 after high school student Lachlan MacKinnon was struck by a car in 2016 while trying to cross the road to catch a bus.
The incident left the teenager in intensive care for 24 days and sparked public outcry over safety. The new Leopold traffic lights were switched on in April, and have been running off a generator since then.
They could not be connected to mains power because Powercor had not received the necessary “as built” plans from a VicRoads contractor, despite claims the delay was due to the power supplier.
The plans are needed for the final safety audit before power can be connected.
The audit has been completed. VicRoads said the lights were expected to be connected to mains power soon.
It has not revealed any plans to manage the failing traffic lights until that time.