Thousands more vehicles have started using sections of Craigieburn, Somerton and Mickleham roads in the past year, latest Hume council traffic counts reveal.
The council study found that traffic on Craigieburn Road, east of Mickleham Road, had risen by 1206 in the past 12 months, to 15,701 vehicles a day.
On Somerton Road, west of McPherson Boulevard, 25,254 vehicles were using the road each day, up from 22,542.
Over the same period, traffic on Mickleham Road, north of Somerton Road, rose from 21,181 vehicles daily to 23,693.
Mayor Helen Patsikatheodorou said the traffic counts highlighted the need for the roads to be duplicated.
She has called for the creation of a national fund for growth areas, such as Hume, and labelled traffic on Craigieburn Road as the biggest federal election issue locally.
“The single-lane carriageway of Craigieburn Road gets busier and busier every year, and it’s a real handbrake on our local economy,” she said. “The road is congested every day, and it slows down our residents,
“The issue is a barbecue stopper and now is the time to duplicate a road that has changed little since Craigieburn was farmland.”
Greenvale resident Joe Calabretta believes duplicating Mickleham and Somerton roads should also be a priority. He has lived in Greenvale for 26 years and said traffic on both roads had increased substantially.
“In peak times, traffic is at a standstill and [Mickleham Road] essentially becomes a car park all the way to the Tullamarine Freeway.”
