Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to lay the foundations for the case for a very important infrastructure project for Perth's southern metropolitan region, the Shelley Bridge widening project. Many of you would have heard about Western Australia's Roe 8 and Roe 9 project, which was abandoned by the state government and, indeed, by this federal Labor government. It remains an important project that needs to be completed. With them abandoning this project, alternative solutions to alleviate traffic congestion must be found.

One of these projects is the Shelley Bridge widening. The two-lane Shelley Bridge crosses the Canning River, linking with the three-lane Leach Highway, and it provides carriage to thousands of cars and trucks every day. It's an incredible bottleneck, as people have to merge on either side of the bridge to get across it. This is particularly so for those trying to traverse that area through peak hour. This situation is made worse because of the absence of Roe 8 and 9, and I think it's a project that needs to be looked at. It causes rat-running in the surrounding areas; people seek other routes to get around and bypass that area of congestion, so it presents significant community hazards every time people have to travel through that area.

I believe the Shelley Bridge widening project would serve the community well and improve connectivity for Perth residents, particularly those in that southern area. My team and I will be contacting residents throughout that area, asking them whether or not they think this project should go ahead. There certainly needs to be some planning, that's for sure. I look forward to working with the cities of Canning and Melville to highlight the need for the delivery of this project, which was included in the City of Canning's 2022-2023 advocacy projects.