Regional roads crisis: Premier Daniel Andrews says ‘no’ to roads offer

After promising to govern for all Victorians after his latest election win, Daniel Andrews has turned down the chance to inspect crumbling rural roads.

Premier Daniel Andrews has rejected an offer from The Weekly Times to travel to regional Victoria and meet frustrated users of the state’s substandard roads.

The re-elected Victorian Labor leader was given the chance to personally spell out the government’s commitment to fixing regional roads and also warn summer holiday-makers heading to country areas to exercise extreme caution.

The snub coincides with an estimate to fix flood and rain damaged roads nationally blowing out to $3.8 billion.

But the Andrews’ government maintains its $165 million blitz to fix flood affected roads announced in October is on track with 110,000 potholes found and fixed, 1617 bridges “assessed” and 36 landslips visited.

“We have a consistent and strong track record of building and fixing roads,” a government spokeswoman said.

“We have rebuilt or resurfaced more than 14,000 kilometres of regional and metropolitan roads to ensure quality and safety _ the largest road maintenance program in Victoria’s history.

“While we know there’s longer-term work to be done, this blitz is ensuring that the towns hit hardest by flooding remain connected to vital supplies and services.”

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews at Brown Brothers Winery near Wangaratta during the election campaign. (AAP Image/Luis Ascui)

The Australian Local Government Association, which represents 537 councils nationally, has joined with the Australian Road Research Board to call for an urgent rethink of road construction, maintenance and funding in estimating the massive repair job has blown out to $3.8 billion.

“In recent months, thousands of kilometres of local roads across NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland have been severely damaged,” ALGA President Linda Scott said.

“Considering the ongoing impacts of climate change, we can’t simply rebuild our local infrastructure to current standards, we need a fundamental shift.”

Australian Road Research Board chief executive Michael Caltabiano. Picture: Steve Tanner

ARRB chief executive Michael Caltabiano said standards and materials used for constructing Australia’s road systems needed to change to improve water resistance and quicker recovery after floods.

“Australia houses some of the smartest road technology in the world and the latest ARRB research shows many recyclables including tyre rubber, are not only eco-friendly but create more durable and resilient road surfaces,” he said.

Former opposition roads spokesman Danny O’Brien said the government was “kidding itself” if it thought it was doing a good job on fixing roads.

“Regional Victorians are sick of the potholes, the uneven surfaces, the crumbling shoulders,” he said.

“These have been around a lot longer than the recent floods and will take massive investment to repair, far in excess of what Labor has so far committed.”