CORANGAMITE Shire mayor Chris O’Connor has called on all sides of politics to make a commitment to fund urgent repairs of the Foxhow Road ahead of the state election.
Cr O’Connor said the popular link between the Princes and Hamilton highways was continuing to deteriorate.
“There are appalling surfaces along a variety of sections of the road,” Cr O’Connor said.
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“The speed limit has already been reduced from 100 kilometres an hour to 60 along a section of the road. While council supports VicRoads’ decision to reduce the speed limit for safety reasons, an arterial road in this condition is unacceptable.”
In July VicRoads said short-term repair work was being planned to ensure safety and access were maintained and that it was developing a proposal to upgrade the Foxhow Road corridor and would be considered for funding in a future roads program.
The road authority estimates 600 vehicles a day use the route, including about 150 trucks.
The council believes $7 million would need to be committed to return the speed limit to 100 kilometres an hour while upgrading sections of the road that remain as a single lane.
Cr O’Connor said council had been strongly advocating for improvements through the Corangamite priorities list and through media releases and statements throughout the year.
“Without a significant injection of state funds the surface of Foxhow Road will continue to worsen over the next few years,” he said.