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Road funding cuts leading to dangerous and deplorable outcomes as Rosedale-Longford Road gets permanent speed cut

Gippsland's roads deteriorate due to funding cuts by the Andrews Labor government, causing safety concerns, recently, Danny O'Brien raised concerns about the Rosedale-Longford Road is poor pavement, resulting in a permanent speed reduction.

By news@gippsland - 30th August 2023 - Back to News

Gippsland motorists are facing increasingly dangerous conditions on our roads due to continued funding cuts by the Andrews Labor government. That is the view of The Nationals Member for Gippsland South, Danny O'Brien who is alarmed at recent instances of neglect that are affecting Gippsland Roads. Mr O'Brien recently raised concerns with the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) over the state of a number of roads including the Rosedale-Longford Road which has now had a permanent speed reduction just on the area of poor pavement.

Danny O'Brien says Gippslanders can expect more speed reductions and warning signs on our local roads due the financial mismanagement of the Andrews Labor government

Road repair funding shortage

Mr O'Brien said, "The section of Rosedale-Longford Road at the Rosedale end is in a dire state and has recently been "fixed" by VicRoads placing a 60km/h permanent speed reduction around the road damage. On asking the government when it would be fixing this issue, I have been told it is now subject to a "pavement in poor condition management plan" which entails a permanent speed reduction, placement of warning signs and planned rehabilitation 'subject to funding'."

"In other words, VicRoads can't fix it because it doesn't have the funding so the best they can do for the moment is to reduce the speed limit and put up warning signs. This is occurring right throughout Gippsland due to the 25 per cent cut to the road asset management program in this year's State Budget, which is on top of previous cuts over recent years," he said.

Rural road funding crisis

Mr O'Brien added, "The Andrews Labor government is wasting billions of dollars on cost-overruns on mega-projects in the city but can't find the money to fix our dangerous and degraded local roads. We recently saw further confirmation of these cuts with news that there will be virtually no roads resurfacing program across the state this year."

"Usually, contractors from VicRoads resurface around 8 percent of the entire network which is preventative maintenance to ensure the roads don't further degrade over time. The fact that this program has been virtually cancelled and serious problems like that on the Rosedale-Longford Road are not being addressed are an indictment of the Andrews Labor government's financial mismanagement. Unfortunately, it is Gippslanders who pay the consequences due to poor roads," he said.

Pictures from Danny O'Brien MP website.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com