A car crash that shut down Bulla Road during peak hour last week, forcing traffic to the congested Calder Freeway, proves why the single-lane road needs urgent upgrading.
That’s the word of campaigners who have for years been pushing for the government to duplicate Bulla Road and Bulla Bridge or build a Bulla bypass.
Hume councillor Jack Medcraft said last Tuesday’s crash highlighted why Bulla Road needs to be widened. He said it was not the first incident to close the road and add to gridlock on the Calder.
“And it’s going to happen again,” he said. “What was a minor problem 10 years ago has become a major problem today.
“The population explosion around Sunbury has meant the traffic that goes down that road has doubled.”
Western Metropolitan MP Bernie Finn raised the issue in Parliament on Tuesday following what he described as the morning “mayhem”.
He said the incident had illustrated that “just one accident can create major problems for commuters and other travellers from Sunbury”.
“We cannot allow the situation to continue where thousands of cars a day travel across a bridge which is one lane each way – a bridge which was built about 150 years ago for horse-and-cart travel,” Mr Finn said.
Sunbury Residents Association tweeted: “This morning’s Bulla Road closure highlighted the need for a Bulla bypass.”
Bulla Road was closed for hours in both directions between Loemans Street and Wildwood Road following the crash on Bulla Hill soon after 6am.
Sunbury motorist Karen Cecati, who was at the top of Bulla Hill when the crash happened, said traffic on Bulla Road came to a standstill for about 40 minutes before drivers were directed by the fire brigade to turn back to Sunbury.
Commuters seeking alternate routes then hit massive congestion on the Calder Freeway, with traffic reportedly at a standstill as far back as Diggers Rest.
Drivers took to Facebook to warn others that the Calder Freeway was “a carpark” and advising anyone on their way to the route to “go home”.
Ms Cecati has been using Bulla Road to commute to work for 15 years and said the traffic situation had deteriorated.
“It’s just ridiculous,” she said.
She said she was “not surprised” accidents occurred on Bulla Road while it remained single lane going through the valley.
