SURELY parts of the South Gippsland Highway, and the Bass Highway are “dangerous” enough to get on new Shadow Minister for Roads, Danny O’Brien’s “Victoria’s Top 10 Most Dangerous Roads” list?
Apparently not!. But it was all down to you, those who voted in the “worst road” poll recently, not the politicians.
Those with the dubious honour of a podium finish include: 1. The Great Alpine Road 2. The Princes Highway (various locations) 3. Melbourne-Lancefield Road.
The Traralgon-Maffra Road gets a dishonourable mention as the 4th worst road in the state.
However, while no South Gippsland roads make the Top 10 worst list, Mr O’Brien has continued to drive the campaign for an urgent redesign and reconstruction of Leongatha’s ‘Kamikaze Corner’.
Locally, he has also highlighted the need for work on the Leongatha to Inverloch section of the Bass Highway and for the program of upgrades on the South Gippsland Highway to continue.
“There were plenty of votes for roads in South Gippsland including the South Gippsland Highway, Bass Highway and Meeniyan-Promontory Roads,” Mr O’Brien said.
“Locals are concerned about the state of pavements too, the dodgy intersections and Band-aid patch-up jobs that don’t fix the underlying problems.”
Many of these have been further exposed by the wet weather and pounding pressure from heavy vehicles.
It raises a good discussion point though: What are the worst roads in Bass Coast and South Gippsland and are they bad enough to make the “Top 10” worst list for Victoria?
Surely, Phillip Island Road, across the bridge and onto the Island has to be one of the most inadequate in the state if not among the most dangerous. What’s your suggestion?
Why they are the worst 10 roads
Sharp drops, landslips and speed reductions because of a crumbling road surface have earned the Great Alpine Road the title of Victoria’s worst road.
The road was awarded the less-than-coveted title from thousands of votes in the Liberals and Nationals’ worst road campaign.
The public vote to find Victoria’s most dangerous stretch of road saw the Great Alpine Road between Bairnsdale in East Gippsland and Wangaratta in north-east Victoria take home the unwelcome top spot by a significant margin.
Respondents highlighted the poor state of the road surface as well as its all-too-regular closure in recent years due to landslips.
But the road really bites hardest in the winter when thousands of vehicles try to access the Mt Hotham Snow Resort on a weekly basis, with cars, trucks and buses regularly slewing off the narrow road while battling the conditions, and many near head-on misses on the centre line for fear of falling hundreds of feet over the outer edge.
It’s a shocker, no mistake.
Other roads in the top five were the Princes Highway in various locations, Melbourne-Lancefield Road, Traralgon-Maffra Road and Paynesville Road.
Shadow Minister for Roads, Danny O’Brien, said the poll results would be forwarded to Roads Minister Ben Carroll to highlight Labor’s failures.
“Labor cut the road maintenance budget by 10 per cent in its first year and has neglected our roads ever since,” Mr O’Brien said.
“It was cut by a further $24 million in this year’s budget after a $191 million cut last year.
“We’re seeing the result of these cuts in poor roads that are unsafe for drivers right around the state.
“The poor roads highlighted by Victorians include local and state-managed roads, showing the impact of Labor’s budget cuts and the axing of the Country Roads and Bridges Program for local councils.
“The Liberals and Nationals are committed to bringing back this program to fix the roads that take people home, as well as those that take them across the state.
“Labor has been in charge of our road network for 19 of the past 23 years and must take responsibility for its failures.”
The top 10 worst roads in Victoria:
-
Great Alpine Road
- Princes Highway (various locations)
- Melbourne-Lancefield Road
- Traralgon-Maffra Road
- Paynesville Road
- Woolsthorpe-Heywood Road
- Heathcote-Nagambie Road
- Murray Valley Highway (various locations)
- Western Freeway (various locations)
- Jerusalem Creek Road