Cr Neoh said there was only a few months before the federal election, and if the highway from Colac to the South Australian border was not put on the network, and money secured for a corridor strategy, it was a “big fail” by the current Liberal government.

“Given there has been a redistribution of some of the Colac-Otway electorate into the Wannon electorate our federal member now has responsibility for the entire section,” he said.

“If we can’t maximise on the fact that our federal member is in power and is in the Cabinet, then why have a representative at all?

“We need our federal member to make some announcements. 

“We have had very little support from the federal government and we need a commitment prior to the election.

“We don’t want a promise they will do it if they are elected. We need an announcement straight away.” 

He is also pushing for $1 million for a corridor strategy study, which would investigate upgrade options for the highway.

“That could include passing lanes, or duplication,” he said.

“At the moment it’s a bit ad-hoc. $1 million for a strategy will map out where we can reserve land to make sure we have it to duplicate and look at priority sections.

“The Princes Highway between Port Fairy and Warrnambool is very dangerous, also the Allansford turn-off near the Great Ocean Road – that has been problematic.

“The corridor strategy will map that out, but we need our federal minister to actually give us that money prior to the election.

“If the federal government don’t commit, it’s a big fail.” 

Cr Neoh said highway upgrades had been an ongoing issue for two decades.

“When we advocated for 10 passing lanes at a previous state election the community blockaded the highway – let’s hope we don’t have to repeat that action to get the two items secure before the election,” he said.