News

Roads | November 16, 2020

More money needed for the Dimboola-Rainbow Road

The Nationals Member for Lowan, Emma Kealy has been advised that the Victorian Government has recently allocated $99,800 to repair 570 metres of the Dimboola-Rainbow Road. 

Ms Kealy said that while the announcement was welcome, it remained way short of the funding required to bring the Dimboola-Rainbow Road up to an acceptable standard.

“Roads in western Victoria should not be allowed to get to the shocking state of the Dimboola-Rainbow Road before they get fixed,” Ms Kealy said.

“This road is regularly used by B-Doubles and Triples weighing in excess of 65 tonnes which is causing huge damage to the road edges and resulting in drop-offs of up to 30cm in some places.

“A large percentage of the road is also too narrow for vehicles to pass one another without one having to get off the road.

“As the road is a school bus route these appalling road conditions are unnecessarily putting very young lives at risk.

“The entire road needs to be widened by at last a metre on each side to enable trucks and school buses travelling in opposite directions to pass without getting off the road, reducing damage to the edges of the road and improving safety for all users.

Ms Kealy has written to the Minister for Roads several times over the last three years calling for the road to be repaired and widened after being continually approached by a large number of local residents concerned for their safety and the safety of others.

“Thank you to everyone who has added their voice and shared their horror experiences to help take the message to the Government that this terrible road has to be fixed before a life is lost,” Ms Kealy said.

“Rest assured we will not give up the fight until all the potholes and crumbing edges are completely fixed and the road is widened.

“We need to drop the country road toll, and this has to start with fixing dangerous roads like this.”