The Craigieburn community has been “left hanging”, with the duplication of Craigieburn Road overlooked in the state government’s budget, say Hume council and residents.
The council and community have been campaigning for the duplication of Craigieburn Road for a number of years.
And despite the government starting preparation of a business case for the project last November, it failed to attract further funding in this month’s state budget.
Mayor Drew Jessop said there was significant community disappointment that the government has not delivered on the project and called for it to be funded in the 2018-19 financial year.
“Council, [Yuroke] MP Ros Spence and the community have continuously called for the urgent duplication of this road to address serious congestion and safety risks,” Cr Jessop said.
“Despite extensive proof that the duplication is desperately needed. Council and the community are appalled that no further funding has been announced.”
More than 28,000 motorists travel on the single-lane road between Hanson and Bridgewater roads every day.
In the past five years, the road has been the site of 75 crashes.
The duplication of Craigieburn Road was identified as a priority project by the council, with Craigieburn’s population expected to rise by about 50 per cent by 2036.
In a further snub to the Hume community, the government also overlooked the council’s requests for Mickleham and Somerton roads to be duplicated. “Our community has experienced a decade of record growth in the northern growth corridor,” Cr Jessop said.
“But state-controlled arterial road upgrades have not matched the growth in the area, putting real strain on local traffic, causing increased congestion and creating safety risks.
“The community needs the Victorian government to take us seriously and provide support for road projects.
“There is more than enough proof that these roads are operating well beyond capacity and our community is only going to get bigger – these roads need to be duplicated now.”
