Above: Pamela Moyle was sweeping her driveway clean of the red dust EastLink trucks transporting fill have left scattered along Chandler Road.By Shaun Inguanzo
IT looks like The Outback, but dust laden Chandler Road is pure hell for residents.
EastLink trucks using Chandler Road as a thoroughfare to transport cut and fill are soiling the street and caking homes and cars with thick red dust.
A local councillor this week declared the road an environmental disaster and urged residents to lobby EastLink authorities and Greater Dandenong council to clean up their act.
Furious residents say the thick grime blows onto cars, buildings and into open windows.
One lady cleaning her driveway when Star visited this week said she continually cleaned her gutter before the clay-like sediment clogged it during rainfall.
Chandler Road resident of 30 years, Veroljub Djuric, said he was vacuuming his home and cleaning dust from his car almost every day while trying to care for his wife who is battling cancer.
“Don’t get me started on the dust,” he said.
“I have rung EastLink a couple of times and they send a truck now and then to clean it up.”
But Mr Djuric said the dust was an every day problem and had even created health problems for his family.
“You can’t wash the car because it just gets dirty again,” he said.
“I have to close my doors and shutters on my windows because dust coming in is not healthy for us to breathe.
“Everyday the dust just builds up and it is getting worse and worse.”
Further north of Chandler Road Pamela Moyle was cleaning her driveway with soapy water and a hard broom.
“I spent half an hour sweeping it yesterday, it set like clay in my gutter,” she said.
But despite her frustration Ms Moyle said she felt any attempt to lobby EastLink authorities would be swept under the rug.
“I don’t think they’re going to stop building a freeway because residents are complaining about dust,” she said.
Road safety along Corrigan Road is also a concern for Ms Moyle and Mr Djuric who both complained of speeding trucks running red lights and often intimidating drivers by tailgating them.
Keysborough Ward councillor Roz Blades said she had raised the issue at council meetings.
“But nobody is listening to the people in Chandler Road,” she said.
“Council needs to urgently convene a meeting with the residents, council staff and EastLink, and we need to come up with solutions.
“If EastLink has created this environmental disaster then it needs to clean it up.”
Cr Blades urged Chandler Road residents to join a petition to remove the dust nuisance.
Contact her on 0417 053 612.
Star contacted EastLink engineer Thiess John Holland for a response but did not receive it before deadline.
