by Jackson Russell
THE Romsey community are winners in this year’s state budget, with the sought after roundabout set to be built at the intersection of Main Street and Barry Street as part of $941 million of upgrades to regional roads across Victoria.
State member for Macedon, Mary-Anne Thomas announced the project, which also includes the construction of pedestrian-operated signals on Main Street outside the supermarket between Murphy Street and Stawell Street, in Romsey on Friday morning.
Ms Thomas said the roundabout is a project she has been working on since she was first running for election and was able to get a commitment for planning money in 2014.
The project has had strong support from the Romsey Region Business and Tourism Association (RRBATA), which sees the roundabout as an opportunity to create and entrance to the town’s shopping strip as well as slow down passing traffic.
The project is something the Romsey community has been working towards for years and comes after community consultation with both Ms Thomas and VicRoads to understand the community’s needs.
“The road is very dangerous and there are a lot of different road users so VicRoads have been working very carefully with our community to listen and understand the various views that people in the community have,” she said.
“This is a job for the road engineers. They’ve taken on-board all the feedback, they’ve worked with stakeholders and they’ve come back with a design for a roundabout that will be suitable for all road users.”
The upgrade to Main Street comes on top of the safety upgrades currently being undertaken on Melbourne-Lancefield Road which was identified by the TAC as one of regional Victoria’s worst roads.