Entering and exiting Craigieburn Central’s main street could become a lot easier for motorists if Hume council decides to install a roundabout at the Aldi end of the road.
Main Street currently features a roundabout at the northern of the road, providing motorists with the opportunity to turn around and continue down the opposite side of the road. But at the southern end of Main Street, their only option is to turn left into the Aldi car park or continue out onto Craigieburn Road.
As a result, many motorists opt to perform an illegal U-turn so they can head north along the road.
At a council meeting on Monday, February 24, councillors voted to consider installing a roundabout at the Aldi end of Main Street as part of its four-year capital works program.
Cr Jim Overend, who raised the issue at the council meeting, said Main Street is heavily used and congested.
He said the absence of a roundabout at the Aldi end of the road adds to the congestion and leads to road rage and accidents.
“What is currently happening, motorists are ignoring the ‘no U-turn’ sign and making dangerous manoeuvres to get back around, narrowly missing vehicles trying to get out of the Big W carpark,” he said.
“I have witnessed on many occasions road rage when the vehicle cannot get around because a vehicle, who is legally trying to exit the carpark, doesn’t move.
“If you come in off Craigieburn Road you can’t enter into the Aldi carpark so you get cars trying to do illegal U-turns over the median strip to enter the carpark.”
Cr Daniel English said Main Street was a “frustrating little strip of road”.
He said a roundabout was needed to bring the Aldi end of the road into line with the northern end.
“If you are not a local, you get down one end and you are like, oh, what do I do now?’” he said.
“I have used it plenty of times where you do the right thing, go into the carpark, come around, and you see three or four people do an illegal U-turn in front of you. You might have seen a couple of car parks up the [other] end but you just know that those people are in front of you and have lost your car park.”
Mayor Jarrod Bell said a roundabout at the southern end could be “a saving grace” for many.
