Traffic counters and cameras have been set up in Rutherglen as VicRoads begins to gather data for the Heavy Vehicle Alternative Route.
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Nine cameras were installed on Thursday and will remain in place for three days, and 16 ‘tube counters’ will be active for one week.
VicRoads planning manager Rebecca Steer said this data, informing the origin to destination study, would track popular travel routes, peak travel times and heavy vehicle behaviour.
“Recording devices will take a video of traffic activity, and that footage is manually matched up by an analyst who looks at what vehicles are coming in, the number plate, where they end up and travel time,” she said.
“That data is not matched up with any registration or personal information; it’s just a matter of cross-referencing the information.”
Ms Steer said the project team would hold community consultation in early 2018 around the findings of the origin to destination study.
“We’re aware there’s local knowledge and experience we can pull into that process,” she said.
“For the purposes of not duplicating information and being efficient with the funding, we’ll revisit any other (existing) environmental or heritage data.
“In the past people have thought we had one option, but that’s definitely not the case.”
Construction to upgrade an existing road network is expected to begin in late 2018, with what is remaining of the $4 million after planning costs going directly to works.
Rutherglen resident Roberta Horne said the data collection was a welcome step in getting trucks out of the town.
“Many people do not understand that the Logic Distribution Centre is the 10th largest dry port in the world – as it is on Indigo Shire’s doorstep there are huge implications for the small towns of Barnawartha, Chiltern, Rutherglen and Wahgunyah due to the increasing size and frequency of trucks servicing the facility,” she said.
“This is why we are so pleased that action is finally being taken by VicRoads to improve safety and amenity in our region.”