Gippsland › Latest news › Danny O'Brien MP

Closure of Pakenham saleyard increases truck traffic making South Gippsland Highway upgrades urgent

The Pakenham saleyards' closure and cattle trading shift to Leongatha demands urgent South Gippsland Highway upgrades, says Nationals Member Danny O'Brien, highlighting the increased truck traffic and poor road conditions.

By news@gippsland - 5th July 2024 - Back to News

The closure of the Pakenham sale yards and the transfer of significant cattle trading activity to Leongatha will require more attention to fix the South Gippsland Highway. That's the view of The Nationals Member for Gippsland South, Danny O'Brien who has been campaigning for road improvements for many years. "With the Pakenham saleyards being closed, a significant volume of cattle are now going to be sold through the Koonwarra saleyards with hundreds more trucks now expected on the South Gippsland Highway."

With Pakenham saleyards closed, more cattle are now sold at Koonwarra, increasing truck traffic on South Gippsland Highway

Fix South Gippsland Highway

Mr O'Brien said, "Many of the cattle previously sold at Pakenham came from West Gippsland, the Yarra Valley and the small-acre farming areas on the outskirts of Melbourne, as well as from parts of the north-east. Many of these cattle will now be coming to Leongatha and that is going to put more pressure on the South Gippsland Highway. This includes the disastrous 'Kamikaze Corner' in Leongatha, which is bad enough for small vehicles, but becomes even more complicated for trucks, including livestock carriers."

" I've been calling on the government for some time to fix this intersection and the Pakenham closure only increases the need for this to be done. We also need significant investment on the South Gippsland Highway itself. In response to questions I raised last year, the government advised that potholes had been filled on the equivalent of every 100 metres along the South Gippsland Highway, highlighting just how bad a state it's been in."

"With more trucks on this road the government needs to be putting more attention to it and making sure it is fit for purpose. I'll continue to advocate for better roads throughout Gippsland South to ensure locals, visitors and even livestock have decent roads to travel on," Mr O'Brien concluded.

Pictures from Danny O'Brien MP website.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com