Melrose Drive safety barriers still not installed three years after Carolyn Wright took her life

Member for Benambra Bill Tilley teed off on the Andrews Labor government in parliament on Wednesday night about the delay.

The unprotected Hume Freeway crossing was where Carolyn Wright, the wife of well-known border football umpire Ken, took her life in 2018.

"We have people losing their lives every day and nothing is ever done," Mr Wright said.

In NSW, six similar bridges, including some in Albury, have personal safety barriers installed.

"It is Ken Wright's firm belief that his wife drove past those other bridges before arriving at Melrose Drive," Mr Tilley told parliament.

"It is about 13km from the furthest bridge to this unprotected crossing.

"I also retold stories of a mental health worker who grabbed a person by their belt to prevent them from becoming another statistic.

"I stand here two years later, no closer to this being fixed.

"Over the journey there have been promises of tenders to be advertised, designs to be provided and even start dates, and then late last year I was told that the cost of the project was now close to $1 million."

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Mr Wright said his faith in the barriers being installed had almost disappeared.

"I go past there and it still upsets me," he said.

"I'm just a little person battling away and who really cares.

"I've lost all faith in a lot of things, councils, governments, everything, with my situation.

"If it happens, great, but I am not holding my breath."

A Victorian government spokesperson said: "Every Victorian life lost around our road network is one too many and we urge community members in need to contact Lifeline 24 hours a day for crisis support.

"Regional Roads Victoria has undertaken design work for site-specific pedestrian safety barriers on the Melrose Drive overpass, and we are working closely with the Commonwealth on timeframes and further funding details."

In parliament this week, the minister at the table, Labor's Richard Wynne said he had prior knowledge of Mr Wrights' case and vowed to make sure the "representation is made" to roads minister Ben Carroll.

The federal government contribution of $250,000 was made in the lead-up to the 2019 federal election when the Morrison government was re-elected.

A federal government spokesperson confirmed its funding for the project still existed and had already been directed to Regional Roads Victoria.

"This is a very important project," they said.

"It was funded on the back of lobbying and conversations with community advocates like Ken Wright and Stuart Baker.

"The Victorian government owes it to them to get on with this project, and to communicate with the federal government why there are delays.

"If the project needs more support, more funding, speak with us, we deliver for the North-East.

"To date, the Victorian government and Regional Roads Victoria have not been in contact with the office of Senator Jane Hume, the Morrison government's representative for the electorate of Indi."

Mr Tilley said he was shocked to learn of the revised price tag of close to $1 million when the bridges upgraded in NSW cost about $350,000 each.

"This ludicrous cost estimate does not pass any pub test," Mr Tilley said.

"We know this is your way of thinking that you are so bloody clever, but we learned today that the Victorian Labor government is happy to spend $12.3 million on lawyers to abrogate and apportion responsibility for its failures in hotel quarantine."

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