The wires controlling the boom gates at Warrnambool’s Mahoneys Road have been deliberately cut, blocking traffic for hours at least six times this month.
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Senior Constable Oliver Price, of Warrnambool police, said the boom gates were stuck down three times over the weekend, and the same thing had happened three other times since the beginning of February.
He said that at first it was believed that a fault had caused the boom gates to activate, but technicians who had travelled to Warrnambool from Ballarat to fix the problem on Saturday night revealed the wires had been snipped.
Senior Constable Price said that every time the boom gates got stuck, technicians have had to come from Ballarat or Geelong which effectively blocks the only road in and out of the housing estate behind the homemaker centre for hours.
The boom gates were activated about 7pm Friday and Saturday night, and again about 3.30pm on Sunday.
A three-hour wait for the technician to arrive on Sunday meant that V/Line had to employ private security guards to direct traffic.
Senior Constable Price said the train service had not been affected by the problem.
He said police had spoken to a youth about the incident.
