Thursday, 10 December 2020

Maroondah Highway, Coldstream

Ms McLEISH (Eildon) (17:38): (5363) I have a matter for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety. The action I seek is for the minister to expedite the roadworks on the Maroondah Highway between Coldstream and Healesville and put the resources into the project to actually get it done. This has been a very hot issue in my electorate. The roadworks on the Maroondah Highway between Coldstream and Healesville have been an ongoing issue for almost a year. Locals and commuters are absolutely sick and tired of the delays, and rightly so.

The works started, stopped, were delayed further and are now at a go-slow. First of all we had a lack of community consultation when the roadworks first began and a change in speed limit was mooted, from 100 to 80 kilometres, absolutely infuriating the residents. This was hugely unpopular. There was no consultation, and this is a very long, straight stretch of road in many parts. Then the roadworks were halted during winter due to ‘wet and cold weather conditions’, which was on the website, yet other roadworks nearby in Lilydale and on Canterbury Road and the Melba Highway continued over the winter period. This left locals perplexed. Roadworks were supposed to resume at the start of spring. That did not happen. Traffic cones were there and ‘Reduce speed’ signs and equipment remained, but there were no workers. The forced travel delays were there for absolutely no reason for months. People were fined for dodgy signage. Then we received notification that the conditions of the road were not at an adequate moisture level to resume works, and further tests on the bitumen had to take place.

So things are now at a go-slow. People see workers on other projects, but they do not see them on this stretch of the road. It is time the government came clean with the people of Healesville, let them know exactly what is going on and put the resources into this road to get it completed sooner.