A PROMINENT Frankston businessman says it is only a matter of time before someone is killed on Rutherford Road/Lathams Road, which links EastLink to Frankston-Dandenong Road.
Real estate agent Michael Crowder wants VicRoads to immediately duplicate the road.
A member of the Carrum Downs Industrial Committee, an off-shoot of the Frankston Business Chamber, Mr Crowder's call echoes earlier claims about traffic congestion by residents and workers.
He is one of seven local businessmen on the committee that met on Friday to call for the duplication of the road.
"Do we need to have a person killed before VicRoads realises this is a major local issue for all of us?" Mr Crowder said.
"I have seen numerous accidents along the road and often collisions are narrowly averted by drivers going off the road into the gravel. With the growth of the industrial area combined with access from EastLink to residential areas over Frankston-Dandenong Road, the road needs to be duplicated to carry the additional traffic as soon as possible."
Mr Crowder said the duplication of the road, which changes names from Rutherford to Lathams at Boggy Creek bridge, will improve traffic flows, cut travel times for residents and reduce the potential for accidents.
He has accused VicRoads of inaction in what he says should be a "straightforward reclassification of a road, which both statistically and practically justifies main road status".
"What further infuriates local businesses is that the Dandenong and Ringwood bypasses were built to alleviate traffic congestion as a result of EastLink, while the Frankston end has been completely neglected."
VicRoads' regional director for metropolitan south-east Steve Brown said the authority was monitoring traffic patterns following the opening of EastLink with a view to improving problems, including along Rutherford Road/Lathams Road.
"The recent opening of EastLink has changed traffic patterns in the Frankston area. Traffic volumes and patterns will take a few months to establish themselves as motorists become used to the toll road," Mr Brown said.
VicRoads is also being urged to construct more sound barriers along Brunel Road near the EastLink interchange.
Dunkley MP Bruce Billson said Brunel Road residents had contacted him complaining about the lack of noise barriers.
He said the barriers stopped at Peterson Street, leaving a small stretch of road unprotected.
"One lady I spoke to is a shift worker and she is at her wit's end. She made the comment that the State Government boasted about EastLink being completed but, until sound barriers were put up to protect her area from its noise, it wasn't completed.
"There seems to be a bit of buck-passing going on and the residents, who have to put up with the constant drone and roar of traffic, including trucks from not just the freeway but now also EastLink, just want adequate sound barriers erected."
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