General News
13 December, 2023
MP urges a comprehensive plan for roads
A WESTERN Victoria MP has called on the Victoria Government to deliver a comprehensive long-term solution for fixing the state's deteriorating road network.
Bev McArthur raised an adjournment matter in Parliament last week with Minister for Roads and Road Safety Melissa Horne, calling on the government to deliver a report detailing how Victorian roads could be fixed.
Mrs McArthur’s concerns came in response to the government issuing a “bizarre boast to have fixed a mere 5000 potholes when there are hundreds of thousands more to be fixed”.
“The Department of Transport and Planning responded to a parliamentary question I asked on behalf of a local constituent and crowed about fixing a total of 5072 potholes in the Western Victoria Region,” she said.
Mrs McArthur said fixing 5000 potholes was “a drop in the ocean” which would not impress road users who experience widespread issues across the arterial road network.
“What matters is the experience of driving on the roads,” she said.
“We see that in front of our eyes and believe what we see a lot more than the numbers which emanate from Spring Street.
“The experience is what matters, and the experience is unpleasant, expensively damaging and, in places, indisputably unsafe.”
Mrs McArthur said it was apparent the department did not have a long-term strategy to fix regional and rural potholes, and instead were celebrating “bandaid fixes that do not last long and wash away after the first shower of rain”.
“Isn’t it crazy that the government boasts about how many thousand potholes it fills?” she said.
“To anyone with sense, that is not a boast of success, it is a straightforward admission that the roads are falling to bits at an alarming rate.
“It is like getting excited because you have bailed out thousands of gallons of water from your boat.
“That is not an achievement; it is a serious indication that there is a big hole somewhere and you should be fixing the hole, not bailing out the water.”
Mrs McArthur called on the minister to deliver a comprehensive assessment on how the condition of regional roads could be improved beyond short-term running repairs.
“I request a considered, detailed report, detailing how alternative road design, construction and maintenance techniques could be employed to improve Western Victoria’s road network and make temporary repairs on tens of thousands of potholes a thing of the past,” she said.