Thursday, 9 June 2022

Northern Victoria Region

Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (12:41): (1839) My constituency question is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety. In the small township of Rutherglen there has long been concern over trucks on the narrow historic Main Street. Everyone wants to slow them down. Many want them removed completely. It is a difficult issue because a proper solution will cost many tens of millions of dollars. While in Rutherglen a few weeks ago, it was suggested to me by a local business owner that there is a simple solution. He suggested the alignment with the entry from the Murray Valley Highway could be altered at the existing roundabout, causing truck drivers to slow down enough to have to drop to their lower gears. If another roundabout was installed at the top end of Main Street, truck drivers would not bother going back up through their gears and speeding up through Main Street only to then have to shift back down through the gears to pass through the second roundabout. This could eliminate speeding trucks at a relatively low cost while improving traffic flow. Minister, will you consider this slightly out-of-the-box solution to the vexed Rutherglen Main Street problem?