Thursday, 5 October 2023

Five Ways intersection, Warrandyte

Nicole WERNER (Warrandyte) (17:18): (369) My adjournment debate matter tonight is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and the action I seek is to fund the Five Ways intersection in Warrandyte South. Throughout my recent campaign, this issue, above all others, was brought to me day in and day out. That is why this is the first adjournment debate matter I am raising, as the electorate of Warrandyte’s top priority is my top priority, and that is fixing the dangerous and perilous Five Ways intersection.

As my constituency knows all too well, the Five Ways intersection in Warrandyte has been the scene of too many vehicle crashes and incidents to count, with the community united in its need to fix it. The Five Ways intersection is one of the most congested intersections in Victoria, constantly making people late to get to work and late to get home to their families, with commuters often having to wait more than 15 minutes to get to where they need to go. Parents are coming to me and telling me, ‘Nicole, my kids are taking their lives in their own hands when they go through Five Ways. Please fix it.’ Our Warrandyte community has come together, voicing their concern, with over 1100 locals having signed a petition calling for an urgent upgrade to the intersection.

Despite the fact that the Five Ways intersection has been the site of multiple crashes over the years and a fatality, it was deemed completely safe by the former Minister for Roads and Road Safety, our new Deputy Premier. My honest hope is that this intersection is fixed before there is another fatality. My honest hope is that this is the last adjournment matter on Five Ways that needs to be raised and that the intersection is fixed. My honest hope is that I will not be standing here again asking why this deadly intersection was not fixed before the inevitable happened again. We have a new ministry and a new Premier, and the Parliament has a new member for Warrandyte. Let us step up where the previous minister did not to ensure that families in my community get home sooner and safer.