Thursday, 20 February 2025

 Joe McCRACKEN (Western Victoria) (18:06): (1446) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety. It concerns safety along the Ballarat-Carngham Road. On Thursday 6 February a 10-year-old was flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne after being struck on the road at around 8 am. The area, which in recent years has been built up by the suburb Winter Valley, has experienced a marked increase in traffic in line with the expansion of the population in the area. Rachel, a local who spoke to the Ballarat Courier, said that:

I’m surprised that they haven’t actually done anything about [Ballarat-Carngham Road] sooner …

In the past the area was primarily a farming route, and many businesses in the area are still involved in agriculture. However, this is no longer just a farming route to the western farms of Ballarat. It is now a key transport link for growth zone residents driving to school and work in Ballarat. A new Coles shopping centre is proposed to open by the end of 2026, which is adjacent to Ballarat-Carngham Road. But according to news reports, much-needed upgrades to the road remain in funding limbo because the Department of Transport and Planning cannot agree with the City of Ballarat, and that disagreement revolves around whether there should be traffic lights or a roundabout.

Wendouree MP Juliana Addison said it was a top priority and that the works to duplicate the Ballarat-Carngham Road would cost around about $80 million. This is despite only $6.6 million put into the 2022 state budget for planning and service works to duplicate the road. Nothing has happened since. Ms Addison has said she has been working so hard to try and get funding for the Ballarat-Carngham Road duplication. Apparently her work has been ignored, if we actually look at the results. She said:

We all need to be talking about it, to make sure that we are really going to deliver what these growing communities need.

The real concern is that we cannot just keep talking about it; we actually have to take action. So the action that I seek from the roads minister is: will the minister commit to funding the duplication of the Ballarat-Carngham Road in the next state budget, or has the government purely run out of money?