City of Ballarat councillor Ben Taylor calls for more strategic planning on road network

City of Ballarat councillor Ben Taylor has called the city's current road planning "reactive" and "inadequate" as it is now more than 15 years old and is lobbying the state government and Regional Roads Victoria to begin work on a new one.

Councillor Taylor says the former road transport strategy document, published in 2007 by consultancy firm Ratio Consultants, forecast Ballarat to have a population of 115,000 people by 2031.

However Ballarat's population met that number almost a decade early, with the city recording a population of 113,763 in the 2021 census.

Cr Taylor said an urgent rethink was needed to reduce the growing pressure on current road infrastructure.

"We already put a motion through council around lobbying the state government to do this again, to do another transport strategy to plan for the next 25 years," he said.

"Without it what do we have? We have nothing, just reactive responses to pressure points in the network. Strategic work needs to be done."

The 2007 report identified many areas of Ballarat's road network which needed development in the following 25 years - projects such as the Geelong Road upgrade, and work on Ring Road and Gillies Street.

The construction of a western arterial road, providing a north-south route in the cities west to alleviate travel through the centre of city, was also proposed in the 2007 report.

"The new road seen as being most necessary by 2031 is the so-called Future Western Arterial, that being a continuous road around the western fringe of Ballarat from the Sunraysia Highway to the Midland Highway," the report reads.

"While construction of the Future Western Arterial would not be justified for some time, it is recommended that planning activities commence immediately to ensure that a road reservation is identified and protected."

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While Cr Taylor praised road upgrade projects such as the $60 million Keeping Ballarat Moving initiative, he said such road works were trying to keep pace effectively a decade behind booming population growth in Ballarat's western suburbs, such as Alfredton, Delacombe and Sebastopol.

"In the past four years they have spent something like $60 or 80 million, that should have already been done four years ago not now. That is just meeting the demands now, not the future demands," Cr Taylor said.

PRESSURE POINTS

"Based on population, it is already out of date. As soon as they open, the road will already be at capacity for what it needs to be.

"The city is still growing and we need to be strategic and plan it, not just do a piecemeal approach."

Cr Taylor said another road strategy document was needed.

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"Having a document like this was a really good roadmap, everybody knew what was needed. The studies were done, the work was done to justify why it was needed, the planning and the budget was put together over the last 20 or 30 years," he said.

"We can't just say 'that document is done', stick it in a drawer and walk away. It is about what is next. That is the biggest thing we have to do, keep planning, keep being strategic.

"We will use to the government to make sure that Ballarat does move, otherwise we end up with congestion and people frustrated."

In response to questions from The Courier about a potential new road transport strategy for Ballarat, Department of Transport Grampians regional director Michael Bailey pointed to work completed under the Keeping Ballarat Moving project, and freeway interchange works at Miners Rest.

"It's an exciting time in Ballarat and the surrounding area as more and more people learn it's a great place to live, work and visit. We're always working to make sure people in Ballarat can get to where they need to go," he said.

"We're focusing on areas where Ballarat is growing to keep people moving now and into the future. This includes through the $60 million Keeping Ballarat Moving project - improving traffic flow at key intersections across the city."