News

Roads | February 08, 2018

Wire rope barriers

Victorian Parliament - 8 February 2018 - Ms KEALY — It is an absolute disgrace that the Minister for Roads and Road Safety has dismissed the valid concerns of country people regarding the poor rollout of wire rope barriers as ‘banjo‑playing dingbats’. No wonder our country roads are in such a disgraceful state when this is Labor’s position on the views of country people.

Concerns raised with me include wire rope barriers being built far too close to the road edge, much closer than 4 metres. The Country Fire Authority have raised concerns regarding lengthy stretches of barrier that make it extremely difficult to judge when to stop to deal with a vehicle accident, and the volume of grass to be managed around barriers creates a huge fire risk on road corridors. Truck drivers have raised concerns that they have nowhere to stop to fix a blown tyre for 500 metres, resulting in ruined rims and extremely dangerous driving conditions for these heavy vehicles. Motorcyclists are deeply concerned about the placement of these barriers and the risk of serious injury. These people are not ‘banjo‑playing dingbats’.

I also have concerns about the extensive installation of barriers. Transport Accident Commission funding is used to build these barriers, but any damage will have to be funded from the VicRoads roads budget. Taking more funding from country roads —

The SPEAKER — The member’s time has expired.