Members statements
Murray Plains electorate roads
Mr WALSH (Murray Plains) (09:36): I want to raise the perilous condition of the road network in my electorate—large potholes that destroy car rims when drivers hit them and up to 20-centimetre drop-offs on the sides of narrow bitumen roads that make them dangerous when vehicles move over for oncoming traffic. These are major transport routes. They are not local government roads. They are actually VicRoads roads that are used by trucks, cars, caravans and everyone, and they are dangerous. The Andrews government has failed to invest enough in our road network for the last eight years. A speed reduction sign does not fix a dangerous pothole; proper road maintenance fixes a pothole. A speed reduction sign does not fix a dangerous drop-off on the side of a bitumen road; proper road maintenance fixes that. Maintaining the sides of our sealed roads to stop the run-off of water pooling and making the roads even worse is something that VicRoads seem to have forgotten how to do. They do not maintain the verges of our roads properly. It would appear that out of sight is out of mind. Just because Andrews government ministers live in Melbourne and do not travel on country roads does not mean that there should not be appropriate investment in those roads. They are dangerous. There are risks to lives because the Andrews government just does not invest enough money in country roads.