A country freeway?

the graffiti because there is no footpath on that side of the bridge and the traffic lane would have to be closed off to achieve this.

However, currently there is construction taking place to increase Drouin Station parking down below to the left of the bridge and the traffic is being diverted down to one lane for this to be completed. Wouldn’t it be reasonable to work together to achieve both the station parking and remove the graffiti.

Would the relevant authorities make arrangements to have the graffiti removed and the bridge painted with an appropriate mural?

There is an opportunity for authorities to collaborate and work in conjunction with the construction site to achieve this with minimal disruption to Drouin residents and traffic using this road.

Please consider my suggestions outlined above and advise me of the outcome.

Marc and Corrie Alberts, Drouin

We hear much these days about Victoria’s “big build”. Some of us would like to hear about Victoria’s “big repair”.

I refer to the condition of the Princes Hwy between Nar Nar Goon and the Bunyip River. Its current condition is very much like a developing country, yet it is on a major highway, in fact “highway one.”

This highway serves West, Central and East Gippsland, and is an alternate route to New South Wales.

Those of us who use the Princes Hwy daily, (I don’t say freeway, because it isn’t) have to know where the potholes are to avoid them.

New ones develop almost every day. They are eventually filled, only to reappear. We even see patches on the patches. There is one section of the eastbound lane where there are longitudinal cracks which extend for more than 500 metres.

These have been evident for many years, and there is now a developing pothole at the east end of the cracks.

The westbound lane from the Bunyip River to A’beckett Rd is a disgrace, with many potholes and an undulating surface.

On the westbound lane, just beyond Gumbuya Park there is an engineered bump which has been in place for many years.

It resulted from the termination of some resealing work carried out in the dim dark past.

Every vehicle hits it because it extends over both lanes.

Two wheelbarrow loads of hot asphalt would probably fix it.

There is a real need for an interchange at several locations, of the standard recently installed at Sand Rd. The criteria for upgrades once was serious and fatal accidents.

There have been many of these over the years, two quite recently.

At the Tynong Rd intersection about 20 years ago, there was a fatality that resulted in the explosion of a fuel tanker.

I have seen a Country Roads Board plan, drawn circa 1981, for an underpass at this point. Land was acquired way back then, but no further action has been taken.

Princes Hwy from the Bunyip River to east of Morwell is of true freeway standard, with only a few minor intersections, and a few speed limits through towns.

When one approaches a major city the expectation is that the road will improve. The short section detailed above is the opposite.

What of the VicRoads solution to the two recent fatalities? Reduce the speed limits. Whoever heard of a country ‘freeway’ with 80 kilometre speed limits?

Don McLean, Bunyip