Kingston Council has welcomed more than $28 million in federal funding to improve two notorious traffic hot spots in Melbourne's southeast — but says more investment will be needed to fully fix the bottlenecks and keep up with population growth.
The Australian Government has committed $25 million to upgrade the Thompson Road and Mornington Peninsula Freeway intersection at Patterson Lakes, and a further $3 million to improve safety and traffic flow at the McLeod Road and Station Street intersection in Carrum.
Mayor Cr Georgina Oxley said the funding is a major win for local residents and commuters who regularly face long delays and dangerous traffic conditions.
"These are critical intersections that have become choke points for drivers coming from booming suburbs like Clyde, Carrum Downs and Sandhurst," Cr Oxley said.
Deputy Mayor and Banksia Ward Councillor Chris Howe welcomed the important upgrades achieved following strong community advocacy.
"This investment will make a real difference, particularly the long-awaited safety improvements at the Carrum intersection, where we've seen serious crashes and lengthy traffic queues," Cr Howe said.
Works at the McLeod Road intersection, which will be delivered in a partnership between the Australian and Victorian Governments, will improve safety at the site via:
- A new left-turn lane from Station Street into McLeod Road
- Two right-turn lanes onto Nepean Highway
- Improved signage to help traffic flow.
Cr Howe also welcomed the commitment to upgrade the Thompson Road/Mornington Peninsula Freeway intersection but said a larger package of works is also needed to address congestion long-term.
"Traffic engineers are clear — upgrading the intersection is a great start, but to fix this properly we need to duplicate the single-lane bridge and widen the freeway on-ramp," Cr Howe said.
"Without these further upgrades, we risk shifting the bottleneck rather than solving it."
"Kingston is a key access point for Melbourne's southeast and we need strong partnerships with the state and federal governments to make sure our road network is modern, safe and future-proof," Cr Oxley said.
