News

Roads | February 27, 2018

Wire rope barrier rollout funding to be redirected to country roads

An elected Liberals and Nationals government will suspend the blanket rollout of wire rope barriers and redirect funds toward road safety measures on country roads as announced by Opposition Leader Matthew Guy and Deputy Leader of The Nationals Steph Ryan.

The Nationals Member for Lowan, Emma Kealy MP said the Liberals and Nationals would also establish a working group of key affected stakeholders to look into how wire rope barriers could be better utilised to save lives.

“The Liberals and Nationals are not opposed to wire rope barriers when used strategically, but Labor’s rushed rollout is causing great concern for motorists across Victoria,” Ms Kealy said.

“The speed with which the project is being carried out is not allowing enough time for the scrutiny and inspection required to ensure the barriers are installed correctly, which is resulting in barriers as close to 30 centimetres from the roadside when it is recommended they be placed a minimum of 4 meters from lanes.

“Emergency service workers from across Victoria have expressed how much of a hindrance the barriers are in fire situations, particularly in areas where there are not enough breaks in the barrier to allow access.

“Importantly, the money being used to fund the current rollout will be immediately redirected towards maintaining and repairing Victoria’s regional roads which have been ignored by Daniel Andrews for three years and have become dangerous.

“Too many of our regional roads have large and dangerous potholes as well as crumbling bitumen on road shoulders.

“It is exasperating to watch the out-of-touch Andrews Labor Government spending millions of taxpayer dollars on this when our roads are in desperate need of maintenance and repair,” she said.

Ms Kealy is circulating a petition calling on the current government to halt the rollout immediately. The petition is available at locations across the Lowan electorate or by contacting her electorate office on (03) 5382 0097.