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Latrobe Special Edition No 3 Morwell Freeway By-Pass

Update of the progress being made to return the by-pass to service.

By Malcolm Lawrence - 30th April 2011 - Back to News

Latrobe Crime Watch News

Latrobe Police Service Area

Neighbourhood Watch Creating Safer Communities

SPECIAL UPDATE EDITION 3 – May 2011

COMING EVENTS: NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH TOWN MEETINGS

Open invitation to all Latrobe valley residents. Get the latest crime prevention tips, crime statistics and Morwell freeway closure updates by attending your local town meeting. This is the forum to raise your issue of a police matter in an informal non-threatening forum.

Monday 2nd May 2011 - Moe/Newborough Town Meeting - Moe RSL Albert Street, Moe – 7 pm Tuesday 3rd May 2011 - Traralgon Town Meeting - Civic Offices, Kay Street - 7.15 pm

Wednesday 4th May 2011 - Morwell Town Meeting-Milne Bay Room, Morwell RSL, Elgin St – 7 pm

CLOSURE OF PRINCES FREEWAY MORWELL

Hi folks,

This is my last newsletter as the Incident Controller. Superintendent Tess Walsh of Morwell has resumed her position after her leave and as we have Easter behind us I have handed over the reins. I have appreciated Tess’ assistance over the past three weeks with all matters regarding the land movement event and she is now fully briefed on all issues.

I am happy to report that International Power Hazelwood has completed the horizontal drain holes at the base of the mine as per the original plan. They are about to commence drilling additional holes with a further 10 to the east and 15 to the west of the original area. The drilling crews are running continuously to finalise this stage of the plan, which has already been shown to be most effective.

The firm GHD has produced a second version of the proposed solution for the main drainage problem. This has been sent to VicRoads, Latrobe Council and the mine for comment. It is hoped that this will be finalised soon and then the specifications provided. This is a critical part of the mitigation strategy which will ensure the water flowing from the Morwell township is conveyed well away from the area of concern.

Much has also been happening behind the scenes. The Chairman of the Technical Review Board, Professor Tim Sullivan, is constantly receiving and analysing data provided regularly by VicRoads and the mine. He is meeting with technical experts from Latrobe Council, the mine and VicRoads to discuss the long-term modelling for the stability of the area of concern. This, together with the main drain solution, will form the basis of action to be undertaken to ensure the area is stabilised sufficiently to downgrade the state of concern. We can then look towards reopening the freeway.

The Emergency Management Team members, together with their technical experts, will meet later this month to workshop the entire event and discuss mitigation strategies from a risk assessment perspective. This exercise will clearly identify the risks in all aspects for planned activities and future management of this event. It will also allow more detailed planning for those risks.

I am most pleased to report on the Easter Traffic Plan. Many thousands of people travelled to Gippsland on their Easter break and most travelled through Morwell. I suspect we were helped by having the school holiday period prior to the Easter break and perhaps many had earlier travelled to Gippsland, but the traffic plan paid off.

Good Friday was particularly hectic for traffic between 11.30 am and around 3 pm, with police manually directing traffic along Princes Drive at Jane, Church and McDonald Streets. The Emergency Warning System (breaking in over your radio) was used for the first time in rural Victoria with success during this time. The message delivered was one advising the travelling public that there were delays and conveying safety messages.

The return trip on Tuesday was not quite as bad, but took longer with traffic delays being seen from around 11.30 am through to around 5.30 pm. Manual traffic direction was required intermittently to assist traffic flow. The success of this was due to the temporary closure of Commercial Road at Jane Street, which allowed a continuous flow of traffic from Princes Drive.

I thank local residents for their cooperation and understanding and I am sure they could see the benefit of this temporary closure. I am hopeful it did not cause too much disruption and inconvenience to them.

As a Gippslander, I will of course be watching with interest the situation’s progress as we move closer to the stabilisation of the area and the reopening of the Freeway. I thank you for you patience during my time as Incident Controller. I enjoyed the experience of returning to the Valley and again working with former colleagues. I wish you all the best.

Yours sincerely

Geoff Newby

Superintendent

CONTACT NUMBERS

Leading Senior Constable Brett Godden, Morwell’s Community Liaison Officer and Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator. Brett can be contacted on 5131 5085.

To report structural issues contact the DPI (Department of Primary Industry) customer service line on 136186.

For Freeway closure information contact VicRoads on 131170 or visit www.vicroads.vic.gov.au .

For assistance at a local government level contact Latrobe City on 1300 367 700.

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: malcolml@dcsi.net.au