Getting out of Thornhill Park is never simple, even on the best run.

To get to the city from this fringe suburb in Melbourne’s west, you must first drive away from the city, merging into fast-moving traffic on the Western Freeway, then turn back the way you came at the Ferris Road overpass.

Those heading west towards Melton have a second option: Alfred Road. It’s a rural road, with gravel verges and no dividing lines for most of its length, but it’s the quickest way to Cobblebank train station, the closest public transport link for this suburb of 8000 people, which has no public transport of its own.

But Alfred Road has just been closed for roadworks – for four months.

A convoluted detour set up by the council has added an extra five to 15-kilometre journey each way for the suburb’s in

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