By Charlene Macaulay
Wyndham council will borrow $40 million to fast-track construction of the Armstrong-Ison Road link from Black Forest Road to the Princes Freeway.
The council has highlighted the Armstrong-Ison Road project as the centrepiece of its Wyndham West development contribution plan, which will give Wyndham Vale and Manor Lakes residents direct access to the Princes Freeway without having to pass through Werribee’s CBD.
In particular, the money will fund the construction of:
•Ison Road between the Princes Freeway and Melbourne-Geelong rail line;
•Armstrong Road from Black Forest Road to Ballan Road; and
•Armstrong Road between Ballan Road and the Werribee River.
Works are expected to be completed in 2019.
Other parts of the project have been funded by the council’s capital works program, developer contributions and the growth areas infrastructure contribution tax.
Preliminary works have already begun on the $11.5 million extension of Armstrong Road between Greens and Black Forest roads, which has been funded in the council’s 2017-18 budget and will remove thousands of vehicles from local Wyndham Vale roads.
The Wyndham West plan states that without the Armstrong-Ison Road link to the Princes Freeway “there is a general consensus that … Wyndham west’s roads will very soon be at capacity in peak periods”.
Cr Peter Maynard said the council was borrowing funds to complete the Armstrong-Ison Road link from Black Forest Road to the Princes Freeway in a timely manner.
He called on the state government to fund the final piece of the puzzle – a four-lane Melbourne-Geelong rail line overpass.
“Armstrong-Ison Road falls along the north-south spine from which Wyndham West will be developed,” he said.
“This council will be borrowing $40 million to affect these works in a timely manner.
“Council’s commitment to constructing phase one and two of these projects as a central platform of the Wyndham West development contribution plan would lend weight to the advocacy position that the state government should meet its obligation for the provision of the overpass at the earliest practicable time.”
Fellow councillor Tony Hooper branded the move a “bold step” that took the lessons learned from Point Cook, where infrastructure was not built early enough to cater for future population demand.
“We’re taking a step that says, that going forward, this community knows what’s going into the ground and will protect it from future infrastructure and development,” he said.
“It’s forward thinking and definitely the way forward for the future.”
