A CHOKED intersection is delaying CFA volunteers from getting to Epping fire station to respond to emergencies, according to a state MP.
Locals described the four-way roundabout, with the CFA station on one corner, as a car park.
Yan Yean Labor MP Danielle Green said it could take traffic 40 minutes to travel about three kilometres from the McDonald’s Road-Memorial Avenue intersection to the fire station.
“It’s disturbing that our firefighters, who respond to 300 to 400 calls a year, have great difficulty getting into the station to respond to fires and road accidents,” she said.
Epping CFA captain Heath Kenzie said Epping Road needed to be duplicated and the intersection of Epping, Findon and O’Herns roads and High Street needed traffic signals.
“We are struggling at times of the day to get into the station,” Mr Kenzie said.
Ms Green said the Labor Party had promised to upgrade Epping Road and the intersection but the Liberal Government had placed a ban on roads funding for Yan Yean.
Local resident Lisa Mifsud said the intersection was “a car park” in peak hours. “I have to allow two hours to drive 25 kilometres to Flemington or the city,” she said.
“As the population north grows, so does the bottleneck.”
– Sue Hewitt
