Maroondah Council is in the final stages of building the Ringwood Activity Centre Car Park at 1 Bedford Rd, Ringwood. In order to access the car parking spaces, Council is planning to build a new access / road opposite Greenwood Ave.

To allow this, Council will permanently ban right turns into and out of Greenwood Ave. Please sign this petition to ask Council to review and reassess alternative options for the car park access.

Unfortunately, it feels as if the Council did not adequately plan this project. A private developer would be required to carry out traffic modelling, yet council has indicated they approved plans for the car park without a final design for the access or traffic modelling of this. They did not adequately inform the community when the plans changed (dated February 2025).

As road safety and traffic engineer, and local residents, we are concerned that this project is not achieving the best outcomes for the community.

Key facts:

• Greenwood Ave in an important Collector road, servicing Ringwood Uniting Church and kinder, Greenwood Park kinder, Our Lady’s primary school, Swim Like a Fish, Ringwood Football and Netball Club, Ringwood City Soccer Club, Aquanation, Ringwood Central Tennis Club, Ringwood Croquet Club, Federation Estate and local residents.
• Early plans showed a roundabout at the intersection. We've since been informed this was concept/artists impression only.
• Council does not appear to have adequately planned this project and did not conduct traffic modelling until after the project commenced. No route survey has been conducted to understand where traffic that turns right out of Greenwood Ave is heading to (north or east), and there is no modelling of the impact on other local streets.
• According to Council, approximately 1,000 vehicles per day currently turn right out of Greenwood Ave, in addition to an unknown number of vehicles that turn right into Greenwood Ave. These movements, are being banned to solve the problem which has been created by Council in building the 324 space car park (i.e. 324 vehicles per day assuming long-term parking).
• As engineers, and one of us having built in Maroondah, we know that commencing work without due diligence and final plans, lack of modelling and impact to existing traffic would not have been acceptable to Council if this was a private development or local resident.
• Council did not inform the community of this until 11 days prior to the intersection being closed, and the message around the permanent banning of turns is provided as secondary information in notices.
• The proposed detour route will add additional traffic along Wilana Street outside of Our Lady's Primary School, increasing risk to primary school students where there is no school crossing or supervisor. The school was not advised of the works and found out from parents.
• Council has not considered alternative solutions which may have included left in/out for the car park (rather than Greenwood Ave), an exit only to Warrandyte Road, or time-based turn bans on right turn out of Greenwood Avenue.

We ask you to join in urging the Maroondah Council to review and reassess alternative options for the car park access and ensure all impacts are modelled and understood.

By signing this petition, you're advocating for better traffic planning in our community. You are calling on the Maroondah Council to pause the current construction and conduct a thorough review of alternative access designs to prioritise both efficiency and safety, ensuring the current needs of the community are not compromised to provide access to a new 324 space car park. Our goal is a well-planned, thoughtfully designed access that supports the growing needs of our community without compromising safety.

Please sign this petition to ask Council to review and reassess alternative options for the car park access.

For more information on the project visit Council's website.

Your support for this will be presented to the Mayor of Maroondah City Council - Kylie Spears.

Thanks,

Emily M - local resident and road safety engineer

Leigh F - local resident and traffic engineer