MOTORISTS across the Mornington Peninsula are enduring extreme delays as a combination of concurrent roadworks and road closures affect the area’s main arterial routes.
A southbound lane closure on Nepean Highway outside the Bata site in Mornington, where private developer Neue Space is overseeing the construction of a new slip lane and bus stop to service its development, has become the flashpoint for widespread frustration at the state of the local road network. The closure is scheduled to remain in place until 22 June 2026.
Compounding the disruption are ongoing works associated with Peninsula Link, which has diverted traffic onto Moorooduc Highway, and bus stop installation works on Bungower Road and Racecourse Road. Tree trimming on Coolart Road during the week further limited alternative routes for motorists trying to avoid the Nepean Highway bottleneck.
Member for Mornington, Chris Crewther, told The Times his office had been overwhelmed with complaints, receiving roughly 400 contacts from constituents by email, phone and social media in recent days.
“It’s like road Armageddon on the Mornington Peninsula. Everything is happening all at once,” Crewther said.
Crewther has written urgently to the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, the Hon. Ros Spence MP, as well as to Neue Space co-founder Sam Alexiadis and to Sina Jalali of NBC Civil Constructions.
In his letter to the Minister, Crewther described the situation as “severe and unacceptable traffic disruption for local residents, families, workers and businesses across Mornington, Mount Martha and surrounding areas.”
He said he and the community “weren’t notified of these works,” and that “closures have been both during peak times and when no works have been happening.”
Crewther said the individual projects had not been adequately coordinated despite their combined impact on the local network, noting the affected routes all fall under state jurisdiction.
“Any works on and closures along Nepean Highway, as a state road, require state Labor government permission and oversight,” he said.
“The state government, knowing all these works were happening, should have properly coordinated between the three different works.”
He said constituents were reporting lengthy delays, missed appointments, difficulty with school drop-offs and pick-ups, and children running late for sport and extracurricular activities.
His own family had also been caught up in the gridlock, with his wife taking an hour to get from Mount Martha to Mount Eliza for a school run, and Crewther himself spending three and a half hours driving between meetings that should have taken 90 minutes.
Crewther said better coordination and more flexible traffic management could have significantly reduced the burden on residents.
“They could put temporary barriers there instead, and move them away when the works are finished for the day,” he said.
He urged the developer and relevant authorities to consider immediate measures to ease pressure on motorists.
“They should be seeing what they can do to speed up the works. They should be seeing what they can do to operate outside of peak hours. They should be seeing what they can do to open up the road when the works are not happening, instead of having the permanent concrete barriers there,” Crewther said.
According to the notification issued by NBC Civil, the works at 1158 Nepean Highway commenced on 16 March 2026 and are being carried out in stages over approximately 10 weeks, weather permitting. The project includes construction of a new slip lane, installation of a new bus stop, landscaping and line marking.
In his correspondence with the Minister, Crewther has sought advice on what approvals were granted for the Nepean Highway works, which authorities were consulted before those approvals were issued, and whether any cumulative traffic impact assessment was undertaken having regard to the other disruptions already affecting the area.
Crewther said residents accepted that roadworks were sometimes unavoidable but were entitled to expect proper planning.
“Locals absolutely understand that road and construction works are sometimes necessary,” he said.
“What they do not accept is a situation where major works are allowed to proceed in a manner that causes widespread and prolonged community disruption, seemingly without proper notice, without visible urgency, without proper planning, and without any clear explanation as to why this timing was considered acceptable.”
At the time of publication, Crewther said the Minister and Neue Space were yet to respond to his correspondence. Jalali, from NBC Civil, was the only party to have replied.
The Times has contacted the Department of Transport, but they declined to comment on the traffic chaos.
Crewther said the strength of community concern “should not be underestimated.”
“Residents are very angry, distressed and increasingly losing confidence that basic oversight and coordination are being exercised,” he said.
First published in the Mornington News – 28 April 2026
