IT will come as no surprise to those that use the road regularly, but magistrate Ron Saines hit the nail on the head this week when he branded the Princes Highway west of Melbourne as possibly the most dangerous road in the state.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
He’s right of course, we all know that. Those of us who live and work in south-west Victoria and have had to put up with this dangerous highway for decades despite numerous calls on numerous governments of both political persuasions to fix the bloody thing.
Mr Saines made the comment while dealing with a careless driving case that resulted in a head-on collision near Garvoc in August last year.
Few parts of the road are worthy of being called a highway, but the stretch between Camperdown and Warrnambool that runs through Garvoc is particularly bad, especially when wet.
Before the last election the Napthine government spent millions on a series of advertisements promoting the work it was doing to improve transport infrastructure in the state.
During the ad, a map of the major road system was shown. Our major highways appeared to link up neatly across the entire state, but there was one obvious gap in the network between Colac and Portland.
That’s because there is no modern highway between the two cities and seemingly no plans to put one there. And that means Warrnambool and other areas of the south-west continue to miss out. Why?
Why is it when people from the south-west drive in other parts of the state they travel on up-to-date major roads that are well maintained and safe?
Why is it that when those same people arrive back in their part of the world they immediately notice the difference in standards because they’re back driving on a sub-standard highway?
Our safe seat status has a lot to do with it, but it’s not the only reason.
Local civic leaders are once again travelling to Canberra next week to see if they can get the nation’s leaders to see some sense and find the money to give the south-west the road it deserves and has been waiting for as long as anyone can remember.
Don’t hold your breath though.