The City of Busselton has responded to questions from former mayor Ian Stubbs by assuring the community they would be consulted about the proposed town centre Eastern Link project.
A release from the City of Busselton stated council was committed to a program of stakeholder consultation to gauge the level of public support for road network upgrade options identified in the Busselton Traffic Study.
The statement followed a series of hard-hitting questions from Mr Stubbs to mayor Grant Henley at Wednesday night’s council meeting.
Mr Stubbs questioned if funding had been used to provide environmental reports on the four main proposals identified in the study, and when these reports would be made public.
He also pushed for public consultation on the issue of traffic congestion so the council had a clear understanding of what the community wanted.
The City of Busselton statement said the consultation program would also seek to ascertain the level of community support for pursuing Ford Road as an option potentially deliverable in the next 15 to 20 years to meet future needs.
Many of the initial improvement measures identified in the study, such as additional signage and minor intersection works, are now completed or underway.
Prior to moving forward with more significant upgrades, including the Eastern Link and/or the duplication of Causeway Road and bridge, the public will be able to have their say via an independently run survey.
Respondents will be able to indicate their preference for either road modification option and will also be able to indicate a preference for neither option and provide council with feedback on alternative options which are potentially deliverable in the next six to 24 months.
As part of the same public survey but as a separate line of enquiry, council will also seek feedback to gauge popular support for continuing investigation into the development of Ford Road or a similarly aligned north-south road essentially linking traffic from the Bussell / Vasse Highway to East Busselton.
Mayor Grant Henley said the council was confident in the advice received by engineering, environmental, traffic modelling and town planning experts and their preference was to advance the Eastern Link.
“However, sections of the community have told us they would like more information and the opportunity to provide greater input particularly in determining which, if any, traffic modification measure the city proceeds with next,” he said.
“To this end we intend to hold a public forum for those interested in finding out more about traffic congestion and road modification options and to quantify support for the various options via a public survey.
“The survey will be open as soon as possible and the results will help Council decision making.”
