Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As another year comes to an end, traffic in Melbourne just keeps getting worse and worse. Therefore, I'm very proud to be part of a government that has made it a priority to ease congestion for people on our roads, particularly those in the outer suburbs, who are most affected.

In my electorate of Deakin, I'm proud to have overseen the commencement of an $8 million upgrade to the Maroondah Highway, Dorset Road, Bellara Drive and Exeter Road intersection in Croydon. Tens of thousands of cars use this intersection every day, including many heavy vehicles. This intersection has consistently been in the top 10 troublesome intersections in RACV's Redspot survey, with wait times of up to four cycles of lights. This upgrade will improve traffic flow at the intersection, reducing it from four changes of lights to one before you can get through the intersection. I'm very pleased to report that phase 1 is about to be completed, and that includes lengthening the Maroondah Highway left turn into Dorset Road, widening Dorset Road, some minor works on Belara Drive and median strip works. Phase 2 has now commenced—the widening of Dorset Road. I want to thank the Croydon community for their patience while these works have continued, but the road and the intersection will be so much better once it's completed, and we're very pleased to be delivering it.

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