Watt Street residents, from left, Phil Hubbard and Pauline Vincent have urged Springvale North Ward councillor Alan Gordon to help them lobby for respite from the large number of trucks using their street as a short cut as early as 4.30am.
By Shaun Inguanzo
THE residents of Watt Street don’t need alarm clocks.
Trucks careering down their once quaint residential street wake them without fail as early as 4.30am every day.
But the Springvale neighbourhood has now said enough is enough and is lobbying the City of Greater Dandenong to divert truck traffic away from Watt Street so they can enjoy peace and quiet.
Watt Street resident of 25 years Pauline Vincent said the situation had escalated over the past three years.
She said Watt Street was surrounded by light industrial areas, including Parsons Avenue.
But the 83-year-old said she was motivated to call Springvale North Ward councillor Alan Gordon when 12 months ago a truck hurtling down the street clipped an overhead cable and sent an attached bracket flying just metres over her own head and that of a fellow neighbour.
“There were almost two heads lying on the pavement,” she said.
“The people who repaired it put a great big bit of piping or pole on the houses with overhead electrical wires to raise their elevation by three feet to accommodate the trucks.”
The safety concerns are one thing, Ms Vincent said, but each morning without fail the residents are awoken by the sound of trucks from neighbouring light industrial areas using Watt Street as a short cut.
“They used to use Newcomen Road,” Ms Vincent said. “Now we are getting them all here.
“We get at least six trucks an hour, from the early hours of the morning until night.”
Cr Gordon raised the issue with council officers at Monday night’s council meeting and said the matter needed to be investigated to restore peace to the residents’ lifestyles.
