Some of Greater Dandenong’s most notorious intersections including the “mythical” ‘Spaghetti Junction’ in Springvale have been named as among the region’s most dangerous in an RACV survey.
In its My Melbourne Road survey, road users picked the junction of Springvale, Police and Centre roads and Princes Highway in Springvale as the No.1 most dangerous in the outer South East.
Nearby, the intersection of Smith and Police roads in Mulgrave was also highly ranked.
Also nominated were the notorious roundabout at Heatherton Road and Douglas Street, Noble Park as well the Perry Road intersections with Cheltenham Road and Bangholme Road.
According to RACV, there were more than 90,000 traffic movements through the Springvale junction per day.
Transport Victoria crash data has recorded numerous injury crashes, including two fatalities, since 2012.
RACV policy head James Williams said this “vast stretch of tarmac with roads going everywhere” was a convergence of a north-south road, an east-west and a further diagonal road.
“It’s clearly not a human-centric designed junction.”
He said it was “mythical in its complexity” and “frightening” to road users, with many crashes and damaged road signs.
Turning traffic were “double-filtered” by being forced to wait in “islands” in the midst of the intersection.
According to the RACV, governments were “reportedly unwilling to address (the double filtering) because of heavy traffic volumes”.
The intersection was also dangerous for a surprising number of pedestrians using the locale. “You have to run to make it across,” Williams noted.
Greater Dandenong councillor Sean O’Reilly said the council had put in speed humps and other traffic-calming measures to deter ‘rat-runs’ on side streets.
“I don’t use the intersection much myself. You just know it’s fraught.”
A costly grade separation might be the only way to fix the design, he said.
Meanwhile, Williams said the junction had been long on the radar of governments as a problem, as well as a priority for RACV’s advocacy, he said.
In its report, RACV recommended linemarking and signage to simplify the intersection, particularly the left turn slip/service lane from Princes Highway to Springvale Road southbound.
A relatively cheap upgrade was to clear footpaths of hazards and debris and ensure pedestrian provisions were up to design standards.
Long term, a Westall Road extension would relieve traffic volumes through the intersection. This would also potentially end double-filtering for right-turning traffic.
The intersection is among 84 across Melbourne identified by RACV as the most risky and frustrating.
A Department of Transport and Planning spokesperson said it was “constantly monitoring” roads and ways to improve their safety.
“We are investing more than $1.1 billion to deliver life saving infrastructure as part of our road safety strategy, including $412 million of new funding this year to reduce road trauma.”
