Eddie Russell
A Mt Atikson resident has called for upgrades to Hopkins Road, likening the major thoroughfare to a dirt road.
Resident Manish Baisoya said the 8.4-kilometre long stretch between the Western Freeway and Doherty’s Road needs a complete resurfacing and four additional lanes.
“It’s become a very dangerous bottleneck … there are some sections that are to a rural standard,” he said.
“Sometimes you feel like you are living in a third world country.
“I am from New Delhi … in terms of transport the local roads there are in a much better state than what we have here.”
Mr Baisoya said the number of potholes on Hopkins Road made it like driving on a ‘dirt road’.
“This is such an important arterial road – it’s connected to freeways and people use it to get to both Wyndham and Melton,” he said.
However, a state government spokesperson said recent works on 1.4 kilometres of Hopkins Road had improved conditions.
“We’ve completed resurfacing works along Hopkins Road as part of our current maintenance program, delivering safer, smoother journeys for thousands of drivers each day,” the spokesperson said.
Mr Baisoya said previous repairs on Hopkins Road had only been ‘Band-Aid’ solutions.
“They fix it and it goes back to the same conditions soon after,” he said.
However, he acknowledged results would not come overnight as Mt Atkinson residents also advocate for other necessary infrastructure projects in the area.
“It’s going to take a long time because it’s not just the road we are fighting the battle for – we have active petitions for a train station and bus routes,” he said.
The opening of a train station would significantly alleviate the traffic in the area and offer a preferable outcome to many, Mr Baisoya said.
“It has a domino effect on the freeways and on local roads … if I had the option I would take the train and there are many people like me [who feel the same],” he said.
“There are already 30,000 residents within five kilometres of the proposed Mt Atkinson train station.”
