Voters call for new roads in booming Melbourne suburb ahead of election

Residents in the suburb of Kalkallo in Melbourne's outer north are renewing calls for new roads to be built to allow greater access and ease traffic congestion in their rapidly growing suburb.

The population of Kalkallo has increased from just 105 people in 2016 to more than 11,000 in 2026.

Despite that growth, the only way to get out of the community is to the south onto Donnybrook Road — a single-lane road lined with a number of other new housing estates.

Angela Greig moved to Kalkallo in 2022.

While she loves her community, she described the traffic as "horrendous".

"You go to Woolworths, and you pass someone, and you say, 'how are you going?' and they say, 'ugh traffic'. So that becomes the centre of every conversation."

Ms Greig lives close to Gunn's Gully Road in the estate's north, where a second entrance directly to the Hume Freeway has been long-promised.

"It's within arm's reach, more or less, and we can't get there," she said, describing 45-minute traffic jams within the estate as commonplace.

Threatening the red wall

Hume City Council voted in September to write to the state government to express concerns about the delays in construction, which were expected to begin in 2025.

The Victorian government has said construction on the $153 million interchange will start by the end of 2026, built and funded by the developer, Stockland, as part of their infrastructure contributions.

"This is a major investment in the road infrastructure that Melbourne's north needs," roads minister Paul Hamer said this week.

Opposition spokesman for transport infrastructure Evan Mulholland pointed to the Coalition's plan to duplicate Donnybrook Road from the Hume Freeway to Epping Road. 

The government has committed to duplicating part of the road. 

"Labor has left the residents of Melbourne's north stuck in traffic for too long, but our team has a plan to fix it," said Mr Mulholland, who is also the state member for the Northern Metropolitan Region.

A spokesperson for Stockland, a major estate developer in Kalkallo, said they continued to support the needs of the growing population.

"Stockland is focused on delivering the infrastructure and amenity that supports the growing community," they said.

Kalkallo is traditionally Labor-held territory, but that vote has been softening in recent elections, along with other seats across Labor's so called "red wall" in Melbourne's north and west.

Cost of living pressures are high — the area has the highest share of home borrowers of any electorate in Victoria.

Monash University political scientist Zareh Ghazarian said Kalkallo, on a margin of 16.5 per cent, should be one of the safest seats in the state, but massive population growth was changing that.

"There are a lot of unknowns and there seems to be volatility in the community, in the electorate, suggesting this may be a bit closer than what we would have thought originally," Mr Ghazarian said.

"There's a real sense that in particular with these growing areas, they require additional support to get around experiences such as traffic jams, the quality of the roads, the ability to move around."

The Kalkallo commute

Kalkallo resident Aisha Thapa drives to the neighbouring suburb of Craigieburn to catch the train to the CBD.

To get there, she needs to exit her suburb via Dwyer St or Cloverton Blvd, get to Donnybrook Rd, before taking the Hume Freeway.

"It's a big inconvenience, because there are only two ways to go to the freeway," Ms Thapa said.

Taylah Watson spends her morning weaving through backroads to avoid the traffic funnelling into the Donnybrook Rd exit.

"I work 15 kilometres away and it takes me about an hour."

The issue with traffic is not exclusive to Kalkallo.

A survey of residents in Melbourne's outer suburbs found traffic congestion was the biggest daily frustration.

Commissioned by Outer Melbourne Councils, the research included interviews with 505 residents across Melbourne's growth areas including Casey, Hume, Wyndham, Whittlesea, Cardinia, Melton, Yarra Ranges, Nillumbik and Mitchell.

Traffic congestion was rated the number one daily frustration for 24 per cent of respondents, followed by community safety or crime (17 per cent) and housing costs (12 per cent).

City of Hume councillor Ally Watson has lived in Kalkallo for eight years and said traffic was only getting worse "day by day".

"Each year we have lots of new people moving to our beautiful community, and they love it here — except for the traffic," Cr Watson said.

"Let's make sure the planning is done so we can get people moving around our growth communities."

The research found most people love where they live — 64 per cent scoring their neighbourhood either a four or five out of five.

But more than half — 55 per cent of respondents — said local infrastructure was falling behind population growth.

Locals want a bridge — for cars

The suburbs of Kalkallo and Donnybrook are separated by hectares of grassland and a stretch of the Merri Creek, where kangaroos hop over the sound of frogs.

Two months ago, a $1.6 million bridge was opened by the Hume City Council, City of Whittlesea, the state government and estate developer Stockland, linking Toyon Rd in Kalkallo with Toyon Rd in Donnybrook.

But it's not for cars.

"It is just a footbridge; it is not easing the traffic pain," local resident Aamer Abbas said.

Hume council has a long-term plan to build a bridge for cars — but it won't be built until at least 2037.

Mr Abbas hoped a road connection would provide more options for drivers to exit the suburb, including to the V/Line train station in Donnybrook.