I have been consistently calling for proper investment to improve Woolsthorpe-Heywood Road for the past six years,
- Roma Britnell
Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell has once again called for urgent upgrades to a south-west road.
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Ms Britnell said her pleas for a horror stretch of the Woolsthorpe-Heywood Road to be upgraded had fallen on deaf ears.
"I have been consistently calling for proper investment to improve Woolsthorpe-Heywood Road for the past six years," she said.
Ms Britnell said the road was regularly used by locals, truck drivers, bus drivers and other travellers.
She said road users should not be forced to play Russian roulette with their lives.
"When I last raised it in Parliament in February, I again invited the current Minister for Roads and Road Safety Ben Carroll to travel the road and speak to locals about its appalling condition.
"He has consistently ignored invitations and instead must believe his colleague, the Labor Member for Eltham's claims that poor regional roads are just 'imagined fantasies'.
"It is shameful the Andrews Labor Government continues to spruik about the wonderful job it is doing upgrading and maintaining rural roads when we have a major, B-Double gazetted road in such a poor and dangerous condition.
"Rather than actually fix Woolsthorpe-Heywood Road, the government is throwing good money after bad by tinkering around the edges. They need to fix it well, once.
"Reducing the speed limit is not the answer. In fact, it is another example of the Andrews Labor Government's disdain for regional Victorians. It's time the Minister got out of Melbourne and checked it out for himself."
Roads Minister Ben Carroll hit back at the criticism.
"No one believes the Victorian Liberals will ever build, upgrade or maintain any road, their legacy when it comes to roads is very clear - cuts to road maintenance and underfunding of projects," Mr Carroll said.
"Unlike the oppositions empty promises, we are improving and upgrading roads across Victoria including the southwest coast, to support local jobs, better freight movement and ensuring safer routes for all motorists.
"Crews were out last week, between Penshurst-Warrnambool Road and Bessiebelle, starting polymer shoulder stabilisations across different sections of the road and we will be completing further shoulder stabilisation along the narrow sections of the road."
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