THE tunnelling of Shepperton Road and the sinking of parts of the Armadale and Thornlie railway lines were two ideas submitted by the Town of Victoria Park to a State Government transport strategy.
The tunnelling of Orrong Road from Great Eastern Highway to Leach Highway was also supported by the council at a meeting on October 11 for the government’s draft Perth Transport Plan – Transport @ 3.5 million.
Town of Victoria Park chief executive officer Anthony Vuleta said the benefit of tunnelling the Shepperton Road would help create a safer pedestrian environment and give cyclists and public transport, while giving people a faster route into the city.
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READ NOW“Widening of roads creates a barrier effect for the community and tunnelling instead of widening would mitigate that effect and allow community connectivity at the surface level,” he said.
“As it is a higher order strategic plan, the tunnelling of Shepperton Road is a principle that may include all of Shepperton Road however no specific details have been discussed.
“In addition to the benefits noted for Shepperton Road, sinking of the railway line would resolve the issues currently experienced with level crossings both in terms of safety and efficiency of service.
As the frequency of rail services increases, level crossings will need to be removed to allow traffic flows across the rail line as boom gates would need to be down most of the time to allow trains to pass.
The idea of lobbying the Liberal and Labor parties ahead of the State election in March as well making sure the public understood the council’s position was also discussed at the meeting.
“It’s important that a long term transport plan is developed for the Perth and Peel region that is supported by both sides of politics,” Mr Vuleta said.
“This is to ensure that a cohesive transport system is implemented over the next 40-plus years based on a shared vision for a city of 3.5 million people and beyond.
“It’s also vital that a number of issues for the Town are understood by its community and pursued to the community’s benefit such as retention of heritage stations and the upgrade of the Burswood Station.
The Town intends to take more of a regional approach in engagement approaches.