Rowville electorate roads
Mr WELLS (Rowville) (09:51): This members statement condemns the state Labor government’s failure to fix dangerous conditions on major arterial roads in Rowville and Lysterfield. I have had a flood of emails from furious residents fed up with the hazardous potholes, dumped rubbish and unsafe conditions on Napoleon, Wellington and Lysterfield roads. Driver safety is being put at risk by Labor’s cuts to the road maintenance budget—of $24 million this year, on top of a $191 million cut last year. The state government has not started construction on any of the permanent upgrades for these roads, despite the federal government providing funding in 2019. Napoleon Road is in such a terrible state that a 2-kilometre section needs resurfacing. Drivers are reporting damaged tyre rims from the deep holes. I emailed the Minister for Roads and Road Safety in April. He agrees the road needs fixing but will not say when it will be done. Wellington Road needs resurfacing in two sections due to the large potholes. VicRoads knows the work is needed but has not announced a start date. Fixing these roads is extremely urgent. Recently two men who stopped to change a tyre damaged by a pothole narrowly avoided injury when a third driver collided with their parked cars. I call on the minister to direct VicRoads to repair all three roads before someone is seriously hurt or dies. Driver safety is too important.