Councils note roads shortfall

Wimmera municipal councils have called for an ‘immediate’ $50-million State Government commitment to ensure major connective roads in the region are as safe as possible for motorists.

The councils have identified 30 deteriorating ‘C-class’ roads in the region they consider have become or are becoming unsafe and putting people’s lives at risk.

C-class roads in the Wimmera and southern Mallee make up about 5000 kilometres of important connective transport links between Buloke, Hindmarsh, Horsham, Northern Grampians, West Wimmera and Yarriambiack municipalities.

They form part of a broad arterial road network that joins primary population centres with regional communities and major highway routes.

The Wimmera-mallee call for State Government action comes through Wimmera Southern Mallee Regional Transport Group, which represents the six shires that rely on C-class roads.

Group chairman Cr Kevin Erwin from Northern Grampians Shire Council said the call was based on broad analysis of regional transport circumstances in the region.

“Our group has been researching and identifying key issues impacting the region’s transport network to understand how these impacts are limiting Western Victoria’s growth and development,” he said.

“This research clearly shows that the poor condition of many of our C-class roads is negatively impacting industry, agriculture, tourism and communities and is putting lives at risk.

“Crash rates on these roads are two to three times greater than the country Victorian average – this is simply unacceptable.

“These roads are vital to our communities and their upkeep deserves to be a priority.”

The group has reported that many C-class roads across the region have ‘extremely’ narrow seals, broken edges and drop-offs, which made it difficult for motorists to pass each other safety – especially long, heavy trucks.

Hindmarsh mayor Rob Gersch said the roads were ill-equipped for modern road-transport needs.

“These roads were simply not built to accommodate the volume of traffic, size and loads being carried by trucks in today’s world,” he said.

“The narrow sealed roads are also often used as detours when accidents occur on major roads, ironically increasing the risk of causing another accident. An unfortunate example of this was an incident on Blue Ribbon Road near Horsham, which followed a Pimpinio bus crash last year.”

Regional Roads Victoria has advised the group, based on the identification of the 30 narrow sealed roads in most need of ‘urgent’ attention, that should government funding become available it could make an early start on projects to help stimulate the regional economy.