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Roads | January 13, 2020

Hindmarsh Roads not on Labor’s radar

Less than 5km of the 332km of VicRoads managed roads in the Hindmarsh Shire Council will be upgraded under the Andrews Labor Government current ‘regional roads maintenance blitz’.

The commitment was recently confirmed by the Minister for Roads after The Nationals Member for Lowan, Emma Kealy wrote to her about the ongoing deteriorating of roads around Rainbow on behalf of concerned local residents.

In her letter Ms Kealy requested that the Minister immediately direct VicRoads to review the road surfaces, widths and shoulders of all roads passing through Rainbow and undertake the required works to ensure they are of a safe standard for local road users.

“It is astonishing that in her response, the Minister bragged about upgrading less than 5km or 1.5% of the 332km of VicRoads managed roads across the entire Hindmarsh Shire Council,” Ms Kealy said.

“This is not nearly sufficient given the shocking condition of many of the roads in the Shire.

“At this rate it will take just under 70 years for all the VicRoads managed roads in the Council to be repaired.

“Local residents are particularly concerned about the lack of gravel and steep drop offs on the sides of the roads which makes it dangerous for people to pull over and they are only going to get worse with the increasing number of transports using these roads.

“I recently had a 12-year old girl who lives on the Rainbow-Birchip Road contact me concerned about the condition of the road, which she said has been getting worse and worse, and her fears that one of her friends or family who regularly use the road will be killed.

“The recent harvest and resulting increase in large grain truck using the roads over the last few months has also put a lot of additional pressure on road shoulders and crumbling road edges.

“I have written to the Minister many times regarding the dangerous condition of roads throughout the Lowan electorate, not just in Hindmarsh Shire, but we are just not on Labor’s radar.

“I will continue to advocate for better roads in our region to save lives and give local residents the roads they are entitled to and deserve.”