The state government’s announcement of $941 million to upgrade key regional roads is a great victory for those who have campaigned for better road maintenance, Upper House Member for Western Victoria James Purcell says.
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The state government has said the $941 million allocation for regional roads in next Tuesday’s state budget will include an extra $77 million for road maintenance in the south-west.
The funding includes $40 million to upgrade the Princes Highway West between Colac and the South Australian border and other funds to upgrade of a key section of the Hamilton Highway.
Both projects will be jointly funded by the state and federal governments.
Mr Purcell also welcomed the government’s announcement it will establish a dedicated country roads body to called Regional Roads Victoria and headquartered in Ballarat.
He has long campaigned for a Country Roads Board that would oversee regional roads from a local perspective and launched a parliamentary enquiry into VicRoads management of regional roads.
"The Regional Roads Victoria division is exactly what we asked for. It's based in a regional centre and will have staff throughout country Victoria who are able to identify and prioritise needs with the benefit of local knowledge and input,” Mr Purcell said.
Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell said she was cautiously optimistic about the budget boost for regional roads, saying it proved relentless community lobbying has shamed the government to action.
She also said more detail was needed about the planned Regional Roads Victoria body, saying she hoped it would not become another costly level of bureaucracy without results.
“If this is the best way to improve country roads, fantastic – but there needs to be some more information about how it will work and how much it will cost,” Mrs Britnell said.
