After more than a decade of lobbying to get a third road to the city's foreshore to provide better access for emergency services vehicles, Warrnambool man Mike Vafiades has made his idea public.
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Mr Vafiades met with council again late last year to flag his proposal to extend Henna Street over the railway line and along Lake Pertobe in front of the old Woollen Mill site to the foreshore.
He has had his idea looked at by engineers and costs for the project could be as much as $10 million, but says his motivation as a surf lifesaver and coastguard volunteer was about public safety.
It would require another bridge/railway tunnel similar to the one on Pertobe Road to be be built to allow access across the old railway line from Henna Street to the disused gas site.
Mr Vafiades said the road would then meet up with the existing walking trail in front of the former Woollen Mills - a path that was once the old railway line down to the breakwater.
His idea is to put a roundabout at the end of Henna Street and do away with the railway crossing to stop traffic being held up.
He said he had also been talking to HEMS4 about the need for a helipad on the old gas site as well as car parking.
"They won't land on the Harris Street oval anymore because the helicopter's too heavy and it sinks and when they go to take off it sucks the helicopter down," Mr Vafiades said.
The former gas site has sat disused for years and been subject to vandal attacks, but owners AusNet last year carried out testing on the site - the results of which it said would be used to inform discussions with the council about future use of the site.
Mr Vafiades said he first put the proposal to the council about 10 years ago.
He said feedback over the years was that it was a great idea, but in a letter he received last year from the council it said the cost and authority to approve works on such a large project would be challenge.
"This in itself is a very large project, and justification for such significant works for a piece of the line used only occasionally would need to assessed by Vic Track," it said.
"Emergency access to the breakwater is available via two routes, although we acknowledge that during busy holiday periods Lake Pertobe can become congested."
However, the letter did reveal that the council was considering a new design for the busy Henna Street intersection.
"My whole thing is safety of my community and the visiting community," Mr Vafiades said.
The loss of five lives in the Stingray Bay drowning in 2005 highlighted the urgency of the need.
"From my place I couldn't even get down there. The lifesaving club couldn't even get down there. They drove a vehicle down the pathway to access Stingray Bay. The traffic was choc-a-block. It was bumper to bumper," he said.
He said he had monitored the traffic in South Warrnambool on many occasion there was a car every three seconds.
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