The failure of successive governments to duplicate Sunbury Road and construct a Bulla bypass is frustrating thousands of commuters and holding tourism back.
That’s the view of Hume council, which has again pleaded for state or federal authorities to act.
With more than 23,000 vehicles using the road north of Melbourne Airport every day, mayor Helen Patsikatheodorou said the choked, undivided carriageway was already at breaking point.
She said the fact that Sunbury’s population was expected to increase 70 per cent by 2030 made extra lanes and the long-mooted Bulla bypass even more necessary.
There were 60 crashes, including two fatalities, on Sunbury Road in the last recorded five-year period.
‘‘We want Hume’s major arterials to be safe for every motorist,’’ Cr Patsikatheodorou said.
Precinct structure plans allow for an extra 14,000 houses to be built east of Sunbury, while thousands of dwellings will be constructed on Lancefield and Sunbury roads.
‘‘Sunbury’s population will rise … and many residents will need to smoothly access their place of work in Melbourne’s north,’’ the mayor said.
The busy road is also used by tourists heading to Sunbury wineries, the Alister Clark Memorial Rose Garden at Bulla and racehorse retirement home Living Legends at Woodlands Historic Park.
Cr Patsikatheodorou said better roads would attract even more visitors.
A government spokesman said VicRoads was undertaking detailed planning to reserve land to link Melbourne Airport and a future outer metro ring road, including the Bulla bypass.
