Forest Drive and Uralla Road Upgrades

For more than 15 years, residents of the Mornington Peninsula, especially those living around Mt Martha, have been calling for the upgrade of the dangerous intersections of the Nepean Highway with Uralla Road and Forest Drive.

In previous Coalition Government budgets, $20.5 million has been provided to make these intersections safe. This funding is now under threat as part of the Albanese Government’s $120 billion infrastructure review.

The danger of these intersections is well known, with more than a dozen serious crashes. It is almost a decade since a fatality occurred at the intersection with Forest Drive, and since that time the community has been fighting for safety improvements.

Minor works were done in 2017 following $200,000 secured from the Coalition Government and $10 million was appropriated in April 2019 to improve the intersections, with a further $10.5 million provided in May 2021.

In March 2022, VicRoads advised that it would finally get the job done, only to pushed back in February 2023 when the Victorian Government revealed it had not appointed a contractor.

In July 2023, we learned that the intersection improvements had been caught up in the Albanese Government’s 90-day $120 billion review of critical infrastructure. As a result, these intersection upgrades were delayed again.

Thankfully, through community advocacy and the hard work of Chris Crewther and myself, the funds have been maintained, but now the upgrades MUST be completed as soon as possible by the State Government.

I have raised the urgency of these improvements at every occasion:

• By media release with the Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, the Hon Bridget McKenzie in October 2022;
• In a letter to Infrastructure Minister the Hon Catherine King MP in October 2022;
• In meetings with the Infrastructure Minister on 30 November 2022 and 21 June 2023;
• In an opinion piece in the Mornington Peninsula News in October and November 2022;
• In speeches to the House of Representatives in February 2023 and March 2023;
• In a letter to the Infrastructure Investment Program Strategic Review;
• By media release with Senator Bridget McKenzie in July 2023.
• In a speech to the House of Representatives in November 2023.
• In a social media post with Chris Crewther on 19 November 2023.

Please indicate your support for this project by signing my petition.