A GROUP of activists has called on the State Government to urgently fund construction of a Calder Park Drive overpass, on the Calder Highway.

The Calder Action Group has sent a letter to the Premier John Brumby and Minister for Transport Anthony Albanese asking for the overpass to receive funding to stop traffic accidents.

“Based on current accident traffic statistics for this part of the Calder Highway and without future budget consideration we run the risk of a continuing trend of serious accidents and potential deaths,” a letter from the group’s president Russell Mowatt said.

“For Sunbury residents, it’s essential because it’s our lifeline to Melbourne, but of course Keilor residents use the road right at the end of the dangerous bit,” Ian Sutherlands from the Calder Action Group said.

Last month, the State Minister for Roads committed to advocate for funding for improvements to the Calder, including construction of the overpass.

Residents of Taylors Lakes have also written to Star, saying VicRoads should install sound barriers the whole length of the Calder Freeway.

One letter pointed out almost all freeways around Melbourne had sound barriers “to great lengths out of the metropolitan Melbourne” except the Calder, despite Taylors Lakes being only 22km from the CBD.

“What needs to be done is looking at sound barriers for the whole area,” said Susan Jennison, president of the Keilor Residents and Ratepayers Association.

“I know one family who found it so incredibly bad, that they shifted out of the area - there is a substantial rate of noise,” Ms Jennision said.

In addition, she said a “huge increase” in the amount of trucks using the Calder’s Keilor Park section, since the area’s industrial businesses began to expand five years ago, had made travelling to Melbourne “quite a difficult and dangerous situation” for residents.

Ms Jennision said many trucks used a section of road where Keilor Park Drive and the Calder Freeway linked to the Western Ring Rd.

“Now you’ve got this incredible backlog of traffic getting from one freeway to the other,” she said.

Ms Jennison said she had sent letters to Brimbank City Council asking them to advocate for a solution to link the Calder to the Western Ring Rd, so trucks do not need to use the Keilor Park Drive interchange.

“What we think is it is terribly important that this issue gets addressed, because it will only get worse for people as time goes on,” she said.

However, a spokeswoman for the Brimbank Council said “there is no record of any such letter being received by council.”

“Council, on behalf of the residents, would be pleased to take up the group’s concerns with VicRoads,” she said.

“Council sees one of its key functions is to represent and advocate for the needs and interests of residents with other levels of government. To this end, council works closely with VicRoads in its role of planning, developing and managing the arterial road network.”

VicRoads did not respond before Star’s deadline.