Residents in Melbourne’s north say they feel like prisoners stuck inside their housing estate with only one road in and out.
Thousands of people live at the Cloverton estate in Kalkallo and residents who leave home during the week before 6.30am are able to beat the morning rush.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Housing estate in north Melbourne with a major traffic problem.
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But after that time, traffic becomes gridlocked with vehicles sharing a single road that becomes a bottleneck.
According to the 2016 census, 105 people lived in Kalkallo, but that number had shot up to 5548 people by 2021 and is now estimated at 7000 people — and Dwyer St remains the only way in or out.
Locals have said it can take an hour just to reach the end of the estates and make it onto Donnybrook Rd, which is only about 1km from their homes.
Locals have said it can take an hour just to reach the end of the estates and make it onto Donnybrook Rd, which is only about 1 kilometre from thair homes. Credit: Sunrise
“Imagine if there was an emergency. I couldn’t imagine how we’d get out,” a resident told Sunrise.
One woman who went into labour sat in traffic for more than an hour just to get onto the main road and others have had to move their children into schools within the estate after they were repeatedly late.
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“People are just so frustrated. We’re just over it. Why isn’t there another exit,” one resident said.
After 6.30am traffic becomes gridlocked as vehicles share a single road that becomes a bottleneck. Credit: Sunrise
“It makes me actually want to sell the house. I’m so over it.”
In February this year, developer Stockland told the ABC it had begun work on a second exit on to Donnybrook Rd, which is expected to be completed next year.
The Victorian government also said there were plans to introduce a more direct bus service to link with the Donnybrook and Craigieburn train lines.
– With Digital Staff
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