Tuesday, 14 October 2025

 Iwan WALTERS (Greenvale) (22:13): (1335) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety. The action I seek is for the minister to meet with me to discuss Mickleham Road and the impact of smart traffic signal technology. Better transport infrastructure that meets the needs of Greenvale’s growing communities and the rapidly growing population along the Mickleham Road corridor is one of my central priorities. It is why I have been able to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for upgrades to Mickleham Road in recent years, as well as funding for improved public transport options like the extended route 543 bus service, which commenced last week. And it is why I will continue to advocate on behalf of my community for more road investment and enhancements and extensions to bus routes.

Congestion at the southern end of Mickleham Road during peak periods is a pressing issue for residents who rely on this arterial route to reach jobs, schools, appointments, hospitals and of course, Melbourne Airport, and I thank each of my constituents who has raised this with me. Ensuring that improvements are made to road capacity wherever possible is critical to ensuring that both local amenity and the productive capacity of our economy are sustained. It is why I welcome the rollout of smart traffic signal technology on the Mickleham Road corridor under the signal network optimisation program. These works allow signals to prioritise traffic at different times of the day to improve traffic flow and to make more efficient use of existing infrastructure. This technology is particularly important in that southern section of Mickleham Road between Greenvale and Gladstone Park, where there is limited capacity to expand the existing dual carriageway, and this technology allows traffic engineers to instead optimise the use of that existing capacity.

I look forward to meeting with the minister to discuss how the Victorian government is expanding the use of smart technologies across the road network to improve traffic flow and safety for road users and how this will help to deliver less congested journeys on central arterials like Mickleham Road.