An angry truckie has come forward to warn other drivers about a six week disruption on a busy regional freight route in Victoria.
Due to two landslips, a large section of the Melba Highway at Dixons Creek will be closed for six weeks from 7am on February 17 until at least the end of March for urgent repairs.
Access to properties and businesses along the Melba Highway south of the Healesville-Kinglake intersection will be maintained from Yarra Glen.
But truck drivers who rely on using that route for their jobs, have been left in the cold and could face a detour of up to two hours, the truckie told Big Rigs.
To add insult to injury, he said, Transport Victoria only published the news a few days ago on its website, and there is still no road signage warning of the upcoming disruptions to travel.
“They’re going to make the trucks drive from Benalla to Yea before they hit a first sign, then they’re going to tell them to go back out on the Hume Highway at Seymour,” said the truckie, who preferred not to use his name.
“I’m thinking of those drivers who may only use this road once a month. They’re going to get to Yea and think, ‘Oh, I could have been straight down the Hume Highway’.
“It’s a two-hour round trip for them if they get caught in it.”
The truckie estimates that around 500 trucks use this road a day and all face lengthy disruptions while the work is underway.
“Everyone understands that they have to close roads down to do repairs but their communication could be a lot bettter,” the truckie added.
“There’s no notification anywhere to say they’re going to close the road in a week’s time.
“They should have been doing a lot more. They should have been putting signs up two or three weeks ago.”
According to the Transport Victoria website, semi-trailer combinations, rigid truck and trailer combination, or vehicles with a length greater than 19m will be required to detour via:
- Whittlesea-Yea Road and Plenty Road.
- Melba Highway, Healesville-Kinglake Road towards Kinglake and Whittlesea-Kinglake Road.
Alternatively, these vehicles may choose to detour earlier via the Goulburn Valley Highway and the Hume Freeway.
B-doubles and vehicles over 19m can expect additional travel times of over 90 minutes, said Transport Victoria.
“There will be significant disruptions to heavy vehicles and we ask drivers to plan-ahead using the National Network Maps, as there will be no access through the work site.”
A detour for light vehicles, rigid truck and buses will be in place via Healesville-Kinglake Road and Healesville-Yarra Glen Road. Drivers can expect additional travel times of over 30 minutes.