Families demand answers as truck bypass threatens homes
- Three Myrtlebank-area families in Victoria say a proposed Sale Alternate Truck Route would cut directly through or near their properties, forcing land acquisition and significantly altering their homes, farms, and rural lifestyle.
- Residents argue the preferred route was chosen without adequate consultation and that an alternative alignment through vacant farmland would avoid impacting homes while still improving freight movement around Sale.
- The Victorian Department of Transport and Planning says four route options were assessed and the preferred alignment was selected for safety and traffic efficiency, but it will continue engaging with affected landholders.}
From the kitchen window of their home in Victoria’s east, Kris and Rebecca Grattan fear their rural outlook will soon be replaced by the roar and headlights of heavy trucks if a planned $21-million bypass crosses their land.
The couple say they have spent almost a decade “in limbo” as plans for the proposed Sale Alternative Truck Route sat idle due to funding delays and renewed planning.
The project, jointly funded by state and federal governments, would redirect freight traffic, including B-double trucks, away from the Sale township through Myrtlebank in a bid to save truck drivers approximately five minutes in travel time.
The Victorian government has settled on the new roundabout site and bypass route, which passes through the backyards of three families, requiring compulsory acquisition of some of their land.
The Grattans and their neighbours support freight route upgrades, but want authorities to consider one of the other bypass alignments which would cross into vacant, unoccupied farmland instead of carving up land so close to their homes.
Mr Grattan said the bypass idea was first raised by the government in 2017.
“There was never any definite or …
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Original article and photo by "ABC News"
