LOCAL motorists have dubbed it “the worst sealed road in Victoria” and are demanding state cash to upgrade the Macarthur-Myamyn Road.
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The thoroughfare, linking the Henty Highway north of Heywood to the Port Fairy-Hamilton Road near Macarthur, was first sealed six decades ago and landholders claim it has received little attention since.
More than 160 residents have signed a petition calling for the road, which spans both the Glenelg and Moyne shires, to be upgraded.
Myamyn resident Wayne Grant said the condition of the single-lane western section of the road was particularly poor and had been a hazard for years. He said the eastern section, in Glenelg Shire, was in a better state given it was wide enough to carry heavy-duty vehicles.
“I never wanted to make this political — if both sides want to back an upgrade of the road then that’s great news,” Mr Grant said.
“The Macarthur-Myamyn Road is in desperate need of an upgrade. The amount of blue gum trucks that have used this road over the past few years has been huge.
“That’s led to the shoulders being worn away and potholes all over the place — it’s bloody dangerous.”
Mr Grant said urgent work was needed if the link was to maintain its B-double accreditation.
“No one with a lowered vehicle would want to drive along there, it’d rip anything to shreds,” the Knebsworth landholder said.
Opposition roads spokesman Luke Donnellan said the Macarthur-Myamyn Road was located entirely in Premier Denis Napthine’s South West Coast electorate.
“These are roads in the Premier’s own backyard and they’re falling apart,” Mr Donnellan said. “I think if you look at the figures closely, there’s been hardly any roads funding spent in the south-west of the state for some time.”
A spokeswoman for Transport Minister Terry Mulder said the state government had a strong record for road improvements, pointing to a $5 million commitment to upgrade sections of the Heywood-Woolsthorpe Road.
She said more than $15 million had also been spent constructing six overtaking lanes along the Princes Highway near Garvoc, Yambuk, Rosebrook and Dartmoor.