Wednesday, 4 October 2023

Western Victoria Region roads

Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (18:06): (481) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety and concerns the ever-growing extensive list of dangerous roads in Victoria ‍– Western Victoria in particular. Given the minister to date has failed to address the serious deterioration and unsafe conditions around roads, I thought I would give her a list of the top 10 worst roads in Western Victoria: (1) Coleraine-Edenhope Road, particularly closer to Coleraine; (2) Glenelg Highway between Coleraine and Casterton – this section is one of the most dangerous areas to drive on; (3) the Glenelg Highway east of Glenthompson – the Labor government promised it would be rebuilt in 2018, and we are still waiting five years on; (4) the Maroona-Glenthompson Road, with particular consideration of the area between Willaura and Glenthompson; (5) Mackinnons Bridge Road as you turn off the Princes Highway near Camperdown; (6) the Princes Highway between Warrnambool and Port Fairy; (7) the Princes Highway between Portland and Heywood; (8) the Henty Highway between Hamilton and Branxholme; (9) the Henty Highway between Cavendish and Hamilton; and (10) the Woolsthorpe-Heywood Road between Heywood and Hawkesdale – and that is just 10 roads in one part of Western Victoria Region that are in a terrible state. By all means the list does not cover all roads that need repairing and actually rebuilding – there are many more.

I am grateful to Jason Bendeich and his son Sam, who came to Parliament house on Monday to talk about this issue and who regularly keep my office up to date with the latest shocking roads to add to the ever-growing list. I recently mentioned the Darlington Road – let us add that as number 11 – and how the government has reduced the speed limit to 80 kilometres an hour over several kilometres to compensate for the mammoth amount of potholes that would wreck cars if they travelled at the usual speed. The government’s solution to rotten roads in my electorate is simply to lower the speed limit on our country byways and highways rather than properly fixing the problem. I have no doubt we will be forced to drive at 40 kilometres an hour on our country roads soon.

Instead of the Victorian government haphazardly patching parts of roads only to be washed away as soon as there is a bit of rain – forget about global warming – they must act competently and diligently to make our roads safe and capable of carrying roadworthy vehicles. The shoulders of roads must be properly built, roadside vegetation responsibly cleared and proper drainage maintained. How else will those inside the tram tracks receive the fresh produce to keep them fed while delivery trucks drive at delayed speeds without blowing a tyre? There are hundreds of kilometres of roads in Western Victoria that are in need of repair or rebuilding, so the action I seek from the minister is to urgently commit to these top 10 – now 11 – worst roads in Western Victoria.