Decaying major roads in the south-west threaten to impact tourism, agriculture and export industries, Corangamite Shire mayor Chris O’Connor warns.
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Cr O’Connor said country roads across Victoria were vital to the success of local economies.
“We need a commitment from the state government to fix these roads to ensure that Victoria remains competitive in the national and international marketplaces,” he said.
Shire modelling suggests $55 million in funding is needed to bring roads such as the Princes Highway west of Colac, Foxhow Road and Hamilton Highway up to scratch.
Cr O’Connor said many of the region’s roads were in such poor condition they needed re-building, not just maintenance work, and neither was happening under the current funding system.
“Based on the current re-build of country roads, once a road has been fixed, it will be 200 years until they get back to that piece of road. That’s a pretty horrific statistic,” he said.
Dairy giant Fonterra, which has a factory at Cobden, has backed Cr O’Connor’s stance. General manager of logistics and distribution Brendan Miller said good roads were vital.
“At Fonterra our drivers travel across the regional road network and see first-hand the poor condition of so many of these state-funded roads,” he said.
“To ensure we remain competitive in the international market and for the ongoing safety of our employees, we need to see funding committed to repairing road infrastructure across country Victoria.”
Cr O’Connor said more of the expected $6 billion-gain from the state government’s planned 50-year lease of the Port of Melbourne could be spent on regional roads.
“Morally there’s a very good case that they should put money back into the industries that support the port. It’s been producers from places like the south-west that have built that port to what it is today,” he said.
Roads Minister Luke Donnellan was contacted by The Standard for comment but did not respond in time for deadline.