By Tanya Steele
The proposed Killara Road and Maroondah Highway upgrade remains a question mark for local Coldstream residents as the future of the intersection is still unclear.
The community met with Casey MP Aaron Violi and Shadow Assistant Infrastructure and Transport Minister Tony Pasin on Thursday 24 August to discuss the future of the busy and dangerous intersection.
CFA Captain Sean Bethell said the area was congested and dangerous and the CFA had to be very cautious when entering the highway, even when their sirens and lights were going.
“It can be very difficult, especially if you’re turning right, it’s a crappy intersection, to say the least,” he said.
A large group of projects included in the $120 billion infrastructure investment program have been undergoing a 90-day independent review and this includes Killara Road.
The 90-day review period by the Federal Government which began earlier this year is almost complete and Mr Violi is concerned the Killara Road upgrades will be taken off the table.
“The former Liberal government committed funding to upgrade this intersection back in 2019. As state governments are responsible for roads, Dan Andrews and his government could have taken that funding and delivered this upgrade,” Mr Violi said.
The project in Killara Road was green-lit for traffic lights to be installed at the Killara Road-Station Street intersection and the Gateway estate entrance in February 2019.
This was assisted by a petition from Coldstream Voice’s Kevin Ryan collected thousands of signatures and was presented to State Parliament in 2018.
Mr Violi said that the Labor Government has sat on this funding for four years, leaving residents in the Yarra Valley to battle near misses every day.
“There have been far too many families impacted by fatalities at this intersection,” Mr Violi said.
Mr Paison said the community need to keep making noise to make sure the work will go ahead.
“We’ve now got a Labor State Government that’s talking to a Labor Federal Government and this project given that it hasn’t gone past the design phase is at huge risk of being cancelled,” he said.
Mr Violi said the turnout at his community meeting with Mr Pasin spoke for itself.
“Not only do the local CFA need to be able to turn out efficiently in emergencies, we’ve got a new estate about to go up which means more cars relying on this road,” he said.
The State’s Department of Transport and Planning was contacted for comment.
