By Olivia Condous
The City of Melton launched a new advocacy campaign on April 4 to call on the state and federal governments for more investment in major roads in the western suburbs.
The Fix Our Roads campaign identifies six major road corridors in need of funding for upgrades, including the Western Highway, Melton Highway, Christies Road, Hopkins Road, the Robinsons Road, Westwood Drive, Calder Park Drive corridor and construction of the Calder Park interchange.
City of Melton mayor Goran Kesic said the growing community needed strong and efficient transport and infrastructure to improve road congestion and safety.
“In the next 30 years, our population will double to more than 485,000, that’s greater than the size of Canberra today,” Mayor Kesic said.
“Yet serious congestion and safety issues plague the City of Melton roads every single day.”
The campaign highlights a lack of funding for Melton in the Victorian Big Build projects as the neighbouring local government areas of Hume, Whittlesea and Wyndham received a share of $4.7 billion in funding.
Mayor Kesic said the council was calling on the government to address the urgent safety and congestion issues affecting the community, as between 2014 and 2020 nine fatalities and more than 477 crashes resulting in injuries had occurred on the targeted roads.
Caroline Springs resident and business owner Tania White said extreme congestion on roads in the Melton area meant travel times were sometimes tripled when making essential trips at peak times.
“If we saw some increased investment in roads, time travelled would be less, I’d have more time with my little girl, I wouldn’t need to leave the house so early in the morning to get to meetings and I wouldn’t feel unsafe crossing major intersections just trying to get home,” Ms White said.
The council is encouraging residents to participate in an online email campaign in order to reach state and federal ministers. To learn more, visit www.fixourroads.com.au/.
