By Jessica Micallef
Western Metropolitan MP Bernie Finn fears the historic Bulla Bridge is on the verge of collapse.
Mr Finn is calling on Minister for Roads and Road Safety Ben Carroll to put the Bulla Bridge on a “priority watch list” after he was made aware of a crack that developed in the bridge earlier this month.
“The bridge is not getting any younger,” he said.
“This bridge is over 150-years-old and it is not built to carry the extraordinary traffic load it now does.
“I am a daily user of that bridge and when you drive on it, you’ve got your life in your hands.”
Mr Finn said the bridge, which connects thousands of motorists to the Melbourne Airport, Tullamarine Freeway, Sunbury and the Macedon Ranges, was an important road to get locals to and from their destination.
But he said the Bulla bypass was the solution to avoiding a potential catastrophe.
“It is an important bridge but we need the Bulla bypass,” he said.
“It will get thousands of people off the old bridge … and if that bridge were to collapse, people wouldn’t be able to get to work.
“On the all-too frequent occasions the bridge is blocked by a traffic incident, thousands of motorists are sent scurrying onto country roads that will eventually get them to their destination.
“It is far more than just a minor inconvenience.”
Mr Finn said traffic on the Bulla Bridge would only get worse if the Sunbury Eco-Hub on Sunbury Road became the dumping ground for soil from the West Gate Tunnel project.
It’s expected more than an extra 800 trucks a day will travel over the bridge to transport the soil to Bulla if the Sunbury Eco-Hub is the chosen destination.
“If they [state government] can’t give us the Bulla bypass, the least they can do is … keep an eye on the bridge,” he said.
“Enough is enough.”
