Thursday, 13 November 2025

 Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) incorporated the following (2117):

My adjournment is directed to the Minister for Roads and Road Safety and it concerns the intersection of Aitken Boulevard and Central Park Avenue, Craigieburn, in the neglectorate of Kalkallo, and the action I seek relates to the delays to this road project and the simmering frustration of these long-suffering communities.

Minister, my constituents are frustrated by the delays in the upgrades to this intersection. While they recognise the need for road improvements, they feel like these projects in the north are not planned properly, leading to delays and gridlock being a constant part of life.

I note that Hume City Council recently resolved to write to you, and I congratulate councillors Daniel English and Jim Overend for leading this advocacy, bringing to your attention the frustration of locals and have also written to your department pleading for the works to be completed before Christmas.

Their letters will also note the lack of coordination by your department and express their concerns around the need to prioritise Somerton Road and Aitken Boulevard. To quote the councillors:

Somerton Rd is in urgent need of duplication, and Council has proposed duplication of Aitken Blvd between Somerton and Craigieburn Rd during the period 2029 and 2032. Therefore, the intersection should be delivered in a manner that avoids unnecessary delays or reworks.

I also note that they will call for better coordination of PSP intersection upgrades, a problem which is symbolic of this government’s inability to plan for the population growth in the north.

You want the revenue that increased population growth brings, you dump extraordinary demands for new housing on stretched councils and gridlocked communities, but you fail to put in the work here on Spring Street, here in Melbourne to plan for the roads and infrastructure that are needed as a result of your grand plans.

I end where I started and call on the minister to read the letter from Hume City Council; don’t put it in the out-tray, don’t put it in the too-hard basket, actually read it and realise that it is long overdue for this government to fund the roads and infrastructure my community desperately needs.