Residents have voiced their concerns about a proposed dual carriageway along busy Curlewis road.
The Tivoli Drive Residents Group (TDRG) has written to Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny to request a safety data analysis be conducted on Tivoli Road, which has become a busy thoroughfare since opening in 2020.
Tivoli Drive travels north from Portarlington Road to Coriyule Road, crossing the Bellarine Rail Trail at its midpoint, and is bordered on its eastern side by residences.
The land west of Tivoli Drive and north of the Rail Trail is slated for more residential development as part of stage two the Jetty Road Urban Growth Plan.
Resident Neil McGuinness prepared the letter to Ms Kilkenny on behalf of the TDRG, which proposed constructing a service road rather than a dual carriageway to ensure Tivoli Drive was safe for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.
“Once the traffic infrastructure is built it’s going to be there forever, so now is the time to make sure you get it safe,” Mr McGuinness said.
“There seems to be a mismatch between what they’ve done on the west side of the development. There, where it abuts Jetty Road, there’s a good separation between the houses, so there would be no interaction between cyclists and pedestrians and vehicles.
“You’ve got a green field site there now, you can build what’s optimum for safety. The ideal is to eliminate conflicts by having separate infrastructure for cyclists and traffic; if they’re sharing the same space then there’s potential for a crash.”
City of Greater Geelong’s executive director of Placemaking Tennille Bradley said Tivoli Drive had always been planned as a duplicated, “boulevard-style” road.
“This is similar to Centennial Boulevard, which is also in the Jetty Road Urban Growth Area,” Ms Bradley said.
“Design and safety issues in relation to Tivoli Drive and Greenvale Drive were considered by Planning Panels Victoria and the panel deemed the proposed arrangements for the duplication of Tivoli Drive and Greendale Drive to be appropriate.
“The panel did not recommend a service road or similar, and Council officers do not support (it) either.
“Council traffic engineers will assess traffic impact reports associated with future development plans and subdivision permit applications.”
