City of Melton residents are sick of unsafe, and congested, arterial roads and are demanding the major parties contesting the Federal election commit to urgent upgrades for safer roads.
Council's Let's get the City of Melton Moving campaign is calling for investment in roads and rail and has identified three major roads that need urgent investment: Melton Highway, Hopkins Road, Palmers Road Corridor (including Robinsons Road, Westwood Drive, Calder Park Drive).
City of Melton Mayor Cr Steve Abboushi said these key roads were in urgent need of upgrades, including duplication to improve safety and traffic flow.
"As our population grows, we have more and more people travelling on our major arterial roads every day.
"While we are grateful for the funding commitments to upgrade the Western Highway, and the commitment for the Calder Park interchange, there's still a lot more investment needed for our community."
"The reality is we need more investment in roads right across the City to help people to drive around safely."
Mt Atkinson resident, Jaksha, travels Hopkins Rd twice a day during peak times to take her child to school in Truganina. She says she feels unsafe travelling along the single lane road and sees accidents almost daily.
"There are so many cars and trucks travelling along such a narrow road. There are also school buses and as a mother, I am concerned for the safety of the children travelling in those buses on such a dangerous road," she said.
Hopkins Road currently carries approximately 28,000 vehicles per day, around double its recommended capacity. This is projected to increase to 51,000 vehicles per day by 2031.
In the past five years, there have been two fatalities along that stretch of road and 104 injuries, with 24 of those classed as serious.
The Melton Highway has seen 83 injuries over the same timeframe with 29 of those serious, while the Palmers Road corridor has recorded one fatality and 148 injuries with 39 serious.
"Everybody deserves to go about their business and get home to their families safely at the end of their day," Cr Abboushi said.
