My adjournment matter this evening is also directed to the Minister for Roads. It is in relation to Pioneer Road in Waurn Ponds, Geelong. Prior to the November election the previous government committed $13.5 million to widen Pioneer Road into a four-lane road between the Princes Highway and Meadowvale Drive to ease the heavy congestion on this road. At present there is a significant bottleneck due to more than 20 000 people using this road on a daily basis.
For those members in the house who are unfamiliar with the area, Pioneer Road links the suburbs of Grovedale and Waurn Ponds in Geelong and is a major route to the Princes Highway for Grovedale and some Waurn Ponds residents. This piece of road also contains the only entrance to the major shopping complex in Waurn Ponds and the new Leisurelink Aquatic and Recreation Centre.
The new Grovedale library will be built in the precinct next to the Leisurelink facility.
Residents in the area and commuters who use this road have been very vocal in advocating for it to be upgraded. In November 2010 the previous Labor government committed to doing this, with construction to begin in the latter half of 2011. The previous Labor government committed to the upgrading of the intersection of Pioneer Road and the Princes Highway as well as expanding the bridge over the Waurn Ponds creek to four lanes.
I ask the Minister for Roads to inform me and the people of Geelong when the Baillieu government will start this much-needed upgrade. I urge that it be included in the forthcoming 2011-12 budget.
