No upgrade for track

By Elizabeth Hart
Residents want the single-lane track upgraded to safely carry higher numbers of vehicles escaping in a wildfire.
But Casey Council calculates an upgrade to gazetted road standard would cost $1.75 million and increase the risk of accident, thus posing a greater risk than that of a bushfire emergency.
The Old Coach Road track is the only escape from Harkaway in the event of road closures in a bushfire, and because it is a fire track, its maintenance is to the level of CFA and other emergency service vehicle use only.
In its current state, the track, including a bridge over Walsdorf Creek, would be a death trap if traffic converged there in a fire.
Casey Council officers fear an upgrade to a gazetted road would create a precedent for other fire tracks to become roads.
“Allowing public use of tracks in times of emergency limits their use by emergency services vehicles and therefore potentially negatively impacts on the outcome of the emergency,” officers said in their report to council last week.
Gates at both ends prohibit public use of the track, and in an emergency the CFA unlocks the gates.
The decision to leave the track as it is means the council and the CFA will conduct a community education campaign on the importance of staying to defend a well-prepared property or leaving early.
The strategy will also include enforcement of local laws during fire danger periods, in conjunction with police.
Harkaway residents say that until a safe escape route is in place, they are trapped in the bushfire season.
The council recommendation in favour of the status quo this week followed a request in April this year from Cr Daniel Mulino for a report on management of the track in a fire crisis, in light of both financial and safety considerations.
The track is not in a designated fire area.
But on Black Saturday, flames surrounded Harkaway and destroyed one house on the outskirts of the town.