Residents of a newly built suburb are forced to queue for an hour just to get out of their neighborhood each morning because there is only one exit.
The Victorian suburb of Kalkallo, 50km north of Melbourne, has only one road leading out of the new development, causing kilometer-long traffic jams during rush hour before and after work.
This wait is before drivers can reach a main road to take them to work, school, stores and the hospital.
On the day she gave birth, mother Rebecca Clark says she was forced to wait nearly an hour and a half in traffic on her way to the hospital before reaching a main road after her water broke.
“I was worried that something could really happen, you don’t know what to expect as a new mom,” she said. ABC News. ‘The frustration is intense.’
“I was trying to come up with a plan B: if I started having strong contractions, I thought I might call an ambulance, but they’d also be stuck in traffic.”
Fortunately, she made it to the hospital just in time to deliver her son.
The problems facing the residents of Kalkallo have their roots in the lack of roads in the newly developed area, as the infrastructure fails to keep up with the rapid population growth.
Residents of Kalkallo, 50km north of Melbourne, have a hell of a commute every morning, when it can take an hour just to get out of their Cloverton estate (pictured)
One resident, Rebecca Clark, said her water broke at 8:45 a.m. and then had to wait in line for an hour and a half before she could get to the main road, not knowing if she would make it to the hospital on time.
Residents of a suburban development on the outskirts of Victoria are queuing for over an hour just to get out of their neighbourhood, as the kilometer plus daily queue highlights the huge problem with only one street leading out of the development.
The problems facing the residents of Kalkallo have their roots in the lack of roads in the newly developed area, as the infrastructure fails to keep up with the rapid population growth.
Evan Mulholland, who was elected to Victoria’s upper house for the Northern Metropolitan Region last November, said the whole situation is a “catastrophe waiting to happen”.
Evan Mulholland, who was elected to Victoria’s upper house for the Northern Metropolitan Region last November, said the whole situation is a “catastrophe waiting to happen”.
“Locals are frustrated, stressed and stuck at home or in traffic due to poor state government planning,” Mulholland said.
“Worryingly, after the recent grass fires in Beveridge and Donnybrook, residents are concerned that if there was an ‘out now’ alert due to a fire, they would not be able to get out.
It is a catastrophe waiting to happen.
Residents fear what would happen if there was an emergency after recent grass fires showed the severity of the problem, with residents stuck on the road leading out of housing estates.
One resident said that what is a seven-minute journey home from the local train station at any given rush hour takes more than 50 minutes.
Another resident said that what should be a seven-minute journey from the local train station takes more than 50 minutes during rush hour.
Meanwhile, a mother said she was forced to leave the property as her children collapsed on the way to school every day while sitting in traffic.
On Facebook, many residents said they could “never make it on time” while living in the suburb, with one even joking that he might offer helicopter rides off property.
“My family and I are offering short helicopter tours from the Kalkallo Estate until the end of the year,” they joked. “If you want a quick and affordable way to get off the property, we’ve got you covered.”
Others shared horror stories of working on the farm saying they “could never make it on time” while another jokingly offered weeknight helicopter rides off the farm.
The idea was met with a large number of people saying they would accept the offer at a price of up to $100 if it were true.
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews weighed in on the issue last month, saying the roads had “obviously not been particularly well designed”.
“I’m not sure if it’s an issue for the council, or for VicRoads, or for the developer in the first place,” he said.
“For safety reasons, as well as the obvious frustration those residents would be experiencing, we’re more than happy to look at it and see if there’s anything we can do.”
Construction of a second road began last October, but will not be completed until mid-2024, with a third road in and out of the property in the planning phase.
Victoria’s Department of Transport said the property access issue is a problem caused by the developer and local council not installing proper infrastructure on time.
They say that when the property was approved for construction in 2012, three access points to Donnybrook Road were outlined, but only one such access point has been built.
The Department for Transport says emergency works have begun to try to ease the congestion.
Temporary traffic lights have been installed and an upgrade to the roundabout has begun, and residents are hopeful this will alleviate some of the long delays.
Ian Wright, a professor at the University of Western Sydney, said while the ‘great Australian dream’ of affordable housing is drawing people to an area, ‘poor planning’ is letting them down.
Ian Wright, associate professor at Western Sydney University’s School of Science, said while the “great Australian dream” of affordable housing is drawing people to the suburbs, “poor planning” is letting them down.
‘I think there is utter desperation for families (to get) a roof over (their) heads. That Australian dream, to have a family, to have your own house,” she told Yahoo News.
“Then there’s this promise of ‘yes, the high schools will come, the stores will come, the train line will be extended.’
“It’s all these promises and it’s horrible,” he said.
