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Transport Victoria swallows Regional Roads Victoria, leaving Gippsland in disrepair and road safety at risk
Regional Roads Victoria has been dissolved into Transport Victoria, sparking criticism from Gippsland MPs over deteriorating road conditions and inadequate maintenance, as budgets and resurfacing efforts continue to decline.
Regional Roads Victoria (RRV), the government's much touted rural arm of VicRoads is no longer, having been swallowed up into a new entity labelled "Transport Victoria". Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull, said RRV was only ever established for government propaganda to make it seem like Labor cared about regional roads. The only notification we had of its demise is when it disappeared off signature blocks.
Potholes reflect poor road maintenance. With resealing efforts cut by two-thirds, conditions will worsen. Labor prioritises patchwork fixes over necessary upkeep, leaving roads in disrepair
Broken road promises
Mr Bull said, "RRV was announced with much fanfare by the then Roads Minister in 2018 with a claim that 'regional Victorians will get the attention they deserve'. What a load of hogwash that turned out to be as country roads budgets were cut and our roads deteriorated."
"Even last week the Allan Labor government admitted it was forced to fill about 220,000 potholes last year - that's more than one for every 100 metres of state-managed roads. In addition, the government's own website to log claims for damage caused by roads is now reporting it is 'currently experiencing higher than usual demands'," said Mr Bull.
Roads in crisis
Shadow Minister for Roads and Road Safety, Danny O'Brien, said our roads have become an appalling mish-mash of potholes, cracks, rutting and uneven surfaces. "Any road engineer will tell you that potholes are a symptom of failure to maintain the roads. With road resealing activity dropping by two-thirds this year, the situation is likely to only get worse in future.
"Labor has been ignoring the necessary preventative maintenance in favour of patch jobs and that means our roads are likely to get worse. This government has presided over $41 billion of mega-project cost blow-outs but has left our state roads looking more like goat tracks," he said.
Demanding safer roads
Nationals Eastern Region Upper House MP, Melina Bath said the state's road maintenance budget is now 16 per cent less than it was in 2020 and resurfacing works this year will drop by two-thirds.
"Given 62 per cent of all road deaths this year have occurred in regional Victoria, Labor must cast its eyes beyond the tram tracks and start delivering safer roads. Labor can't manage money, can't manage our roads, and regional Victorians are paying the price," she said.
Pictures from Transport Victoria Facebook page.
Source: www.gippsland.com
Published by: news@gippsland.com
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