Melton City Council is calling on all parties to commit to upgrading Hopkins Road.
With a dangerous level crossing on the road set to be removed, it is the perfect opportunity to future-proof the precinct with duplicated lanes, upgraded intersections and a new train station close to Hopkins Road.
Residents near Hopkins Road are set to quadruple over the next 30 years, from 20,000 today to over 90,000 by 2051. Tens of thousands of new jobs will be created at the Mount Atkinson town centre, Melbourne Business Park and Western Intermodal Freight Terminal.
One of the key priorities in Council's Fix Our Roads campaign, Hopkins Road carries 27,000 vehicles per day and traffic modelling indicates that this will increase to over 40,000 vehicles per day by 2031.
Despite being a critical north-south corridor connecting two major freeways and the centre of future developments, Hopkins Road is a rural-standard single carriageway with unsealed shoulders, open drains and non-existent pedestrian facilities.
Council is calling for the new train station at Mount Atkinson and the duplication of Hopkins Road from the Western Highway to Boundary Road with new signalised intersections and a pedestrian and cycling path to deliver a strategic integrated transport solution for the community.
Independent analysis found that duplicating Hopkins Road would save over 74,000 hours of travel time over 30 years while building the new Mt Atkinson train station would get 1,400 cars off the road every day by 2051.
The estimated project cost of $88 million will see total economic benefits of $219 million.
The data also shows that the project would lead to a 45 per cent reduction in crashes over 30 years.
More details on the independent economic analysis on Hopkins Road from Clarity Consult, including potential redesigns, are available at: movingmelton.com.au/hopkinsroad
