Thursday, 5 February 2026

 Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (19:00): (2291) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety. The action that I seek is for the minister to end the constant delays and order construction to begin immediately on three long-overdue intersection upgrades in Shepparton. Along Numurkah Road and the Goulburn Valley Highway in Shepparton there is a series of three intersections which all have funding available for upgrades: the Graham Street intersection, the Hawkins Street intersection and the Ford Road–Wanganui Road intersection. All three have funding available, and yet none of them have even started construction. These junction upgrades are critical to the safety of local traffic and freight vehicles moving through Shepparton, and yet the start of construction has been constantly delayed. The long wait in getting work started shows the total disregard that the Allan Labor government has for the people of Shepparton and rural and regional Victorians in general. My constituents have been let down over and over again as they wait years for simple traffic lights and intersection upgrades, because all Labor’s attention is concentrated on big tunnel projects in metropolitan Melbourne.

The worst of these is the Ford Road–Wanganui Road intersection. Almost nine years ago $10.2 million was allocated in the 2017–18 budget towards the Shepparton bypass, with $2.6 million for planning and $7.6 million of capital expenditure for preconstruction works and an upgrade of the intersection at Ford Road and Wanganui Road that was reported to include a roundabout. The $7.6 million is still a line item in the 2025–26 budget papers, with $5.2 million remaining to be spent this financial year and a slated completion date of quarter 1 2026–27. It seems impossible that the project will actually be finished by then, because construction has not even started and the completion date is only weeks away.

Slightly south along the highway is the next big intersection, where Hawkins Street joins Numurkah Road. In March last year the federal government gave $5 million to upgrade the Hawkins Street intersection with Numurkah Road, and yet there too no work has even started. The third intersection along this stretch of road is the Graham Street intersection, which is the road that ambulances and cars must enter to get to the hospital. Turning in and out of Graham Street is risky, and it is absolutely vital for the safe movement of ambulances and other traffic that this intersection is upgraded and signalised as soon as possible. Funding has been available since the 2022–23 state budget, with an allocation of $3.5 million to upgrade that intersection. After constant questioning, the minister told me in 2024 that construction was expected in 2025, and yet here we are in 2026 and it has still not even started.