Gippsland › Latest news › Sheridan Bond

The Nationals Commit To Billion Dollar Road Fix Blitz

Nationals to fix country roads with a $1 billion Road Fix Blitz.

By Portal Admin - 12th November 2018 - Back to News

The Nationals have vowed to fix country roads with a $1 billion Road Fix Blitz announced for country roads across regional Victoria today.

Daniel Andrews and Labor have been in government 15 out of the past 19 year and their neglect of regional roads is putting the lives and safety of Victorians at risk every day.

The Nationals candidate for Morwell Sheridan Bond stood today with The Nationals Member for Eastern Victoria Region, Melina Bath in Glengarry West to make the announcement and explain what the program will mean to Latrobe Valley residents.

Ms Bond said the program will address regional roads upgrades under VicRoads governance such as the major regional arterials like the Glengarry to Moe road.

Ms Bath said country roads across Latrobe Valley have significantly deteriorated over the last four years through Labor’s neglect.

"The Glengarry West road that merges into Brown Coal Mine road is a notorious stretch and is known for its poor condition and its lack of maintenance," said Ms Bath.

"Daniel Andrews has left our roads falling apart, littered with potholes and crumbling road edges that make it more dangerous to travel around, but The Nationals have a real plan to get our country roads back up to scratch.

Regional Victoria has around 20% of the state’s population but over 50% of road fatalities occur on country roads.

The $1 billion Road Fix Blitz will invest to improve roads before they begin to break down which will save lives and save taxpayers in the long run. Under this project, VicRoads will develop a program of works each year based on input from community and stakeholders.

Funding for the $1 billion Road Fix Blitz will be made up of $400 million for the Country Roads and Bridges program, another $400 million for targeted road restoration and a $200 million boost for general road maintenance.

Sheridan Bond said country people had simply had enough of their roads being neglected, the constant pot holes causing damage to their cars and the compromising of their family’s safety.

"Labor cut country road funding all while spending billions on metro projects in Melbourne and enough is enough, we deserve better here in the Valley.

"Worst of all, they wasted an appalling $1.3 billion of taxpayers money cancelling the East West link contract and introduced a blanket roll out wire rope barriers without any thought on their location suitability.

"The money wasted and thrown away by Labor would have gone a long way to making a real difference to the safety of country roads.

"No one wants to see rough surface signage on our major regional arterials like you see from Glengarry West to Tyers and right through to Yallourn North," said Ms Bond.

"Country road safety should not be compromised. Through the $1 billion Road Fix Blitz we will build the right road infrastructure for the residents of Latrobe Valley.


The Nationals Candidate for Morwell, Sheridan Bond, Glengarry resident Sharyn McAuliffe and The Nationals Member Eastern Victoria Region, Melina Bath stand roadside on the Glengarry West Road to announce the $1 Billion Road Fix Blitz.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: support@gippsland.com