The “long overdue” duplication of Sunbury Road is being funded in the state budget.
Sunbury Road will be widened from two to four lanes between Powlett Street and Bulla-Diggers Rest Road as part of the state’s $2.2 billion Suburban Roads Upgrade.
A shared cycling and pedestrian path will also be installed using the funds allocated in today’s Victorian 2018-19 budget.
The upgrades come after 13 crashes were recorded on the stretch of road in the five years to July, 2016, leaving one person dead and seven seriously injured, according to VicRoads.
Sunbury MP Josh Bull said the upgrades would “slash congestion and improve safety” on the road.
“Locals who use Sunbury Road every day know this upgrade is long overdue,” Mr Bull said.
Hume councillor Jack Medcraft has been lobbying for safety improvements at the road for five years after being involved in a near-miss on the major access route between Sunbury and Melbourne Airport.
Hume mayor Geoff Porter called for duplication of Sunbury Road about two months ago when the government announced it was installing flexible barriers on the road, between Tullamarine Freeway and Oaklands Road.
“Council believes that, ultimately, duplication of Sunbury Road is the best solution to addressing road safety, as well as congestion, on Sunbury Road,” he told Star Weekly in February.
Residents have taken to Facebook to complain that the upgrades to Sunbury Road will not be very beneficial while there is no effort to change congestion at Bulla.
“Four lanes will still become two over the bridge at Bulla,” one resident posted on Facebook. “[It] just means that you will get to a standstill crawl a bit faster.”
“It is an upgrade to a bottleneck,” said another.
Residents and Hume council have been campaigning for upgrades to the Bulla section for years.
VicRoads data shows that about 21,000 vehicles use Sunbury Road each day.
