Ballarat road works: when will the street lights be turned on?

Months after traffic lights were activated and roadworks were completed, temporary street lights are still in operation at the Glenelg Highway and Wiltshire Lane intersection outside Delacombe Town Centre, on the Midland Highway at Docwra Street in Sebastopol, the intersection of Wiltshire Lane and Latrobe Street, Delacombe, and at Hertford Street and Albert Street in Sebastopol.

The newly completed roundabout on the Glenelg Highway at Innsbruck Drive in Smythes Creek, built by developers, is also under temporary lights.

Street lights have been installed at each intersection, but they are not yet connected and switched on.

Switch-on dates depend on the power provider's scheduling and availability but authorities could give no indication when that might occur.

Department of Transport and Planning regional director (Grampians) Simon Grant thanked motorists for their patience during the works.

"We're working with the utility provider to complete power connections and turn on the new lights at a range of sites including the Glenelg Highway-Wiltshire Lane and Midland Highway-Docwra Street intersections," he said.

He said some works including public lighting and site clean up still remained at the sites.

The delay in connecting the street lights means some projects, part of a $60 million state government Keeping Ballarat Moving project, have taken more than two years and are not yet complete.

The traffic lights at the Glenelg Highway and Wiltshire Lane, near DTC and Bunnings, were switched on on December 22, 2022, after about 18 months of work to the intersection to remove the roundabout, widen the road and install traffic lights.

Works to remove the roundabout and put in traffic lights at Wiltshire Lane and Latrobe St began early August 2021, with the traffic lights becoming operational on March 8, 2023.

Street lights at Hertford Street and Albert Street in Sebastopol are still dark despite the traffic lights showing red, amber and green since late October 2022 following 10 months of construction.

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And the traffic lights have been on at Docwra Street and the Midland Highway in Sebastopol since December 2022, but temporary street lights remain.

The final part of the Keeping Ballarat Moving project is underway, with preliminary roadworks complete at the corner of Dyson Drive and Ballarat-Carngham Road in Lucas ahead of major construction to build a roundabout which is scheduled to begin in November when weather conditions are more favourable to allow crews to complete major work as quickly as possible.

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