Northern Metropolitan Region bus infrastructure
Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (17:28): (1964) My adjournment is to the Minister for Public and Active Transport, and it concerns the appalling conditions of bus shelters for residents in Greenvale, Roxborough Park and Meadow Heights. The action I seek is for the minister to urgently investigate what can be done to improve the dire, almost Third World state of the road along Somerton Road in terms of the bus shelters, and more broadly in the area. The bus stops along Somerton Road are appalling. Residents are forced to cross in dangerous places and walk through mud and gravel just to get to the bus stop. My constituents regularly raise with me the lack of protection from weather and the need to stand in the mud or gravel or in the weeds while waiting for a bus. It is unacceptable, and it is symbolic of Labor’s failure and refusal to even upgrade the most basic of infrastructure in the northern suburbs. I regularly get complaints, particularly about the corner of Somerton Road and Ravenhill Boulevard in Roxborough Park. You literally cannot access it without walking onto a busy Somerton Road if you want to get to the bus stop. If you do not want to walk directly onto busy Somerton Road, you have to walk through mud and you have to walk through slippery grass. So if you are an elderly resident, and I have spoken to many in Roxborough Park, you literally cannot get to the bus stop. That is not good enough. You would never see a situation like that in Brunswick or Richmond or Northcote, but you do see it in places like Roxborough Park because of the neglect that this government has shown. These bus stops are not accessible for disabled people, for our elderly, leaving vulnerable local residents without any access to public transport and contributing to isolation and a reduced sense of community. I want to particularly shout-out to my friend Cr Sam Misho, who has also been advocating to the state government through his role on council. Residents of the north and my constituents deserve safe access to accessible bus shelters and bus access. So I repeat my action to the minister, to urgently investigate what can be done to improve safety at these bus stops on Somerton Road.