Victorian Budget 2018: Labor’s U-turn on roads

THE Victorian Opposition has accused Premier Daniel Andrews of playing a game of catch-up on country road funding in this week’s State Budget.

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THE Victorian Opposition has accused Premier Daniel Andrews of playing a game of catch-up on country road funding in this week’s State Budget.

“Country roads have been falling apart for three years, because Daniel Andrews decided the cash would be better spent fixing roads around his metropolitan electorate of Mulgrave,” Opposition Roads spokesman David Hodgett said.

Last week Mr Andrews announced the Government would pour $941 million into rural and regional roads, including $100 million over the next two financial years for municipal roads.

But Mr Hodgett said the Premier was playing catch-up, given Labor had cut the former Coalition Government’s $160 million Country Roads and Bridges program and left councils with nothing for the past three years.

Last month, the ­Liberal-Nationals Coalition pledged to restore their former $160 million Country Roads and Bridges Program, which would deliver $40 million a year to councils over four years.

Meanwhile, the Premier announced last week the Government would establish a new VicRoads division dedicated to fixing country roads — Regional Roads Victoria.

Mr Andrews said RRV would be established in Ballarat and led by a new chief regional roads officer overseeing all regional VicRoads’ staff.

RRV’s initial focus would be on a $333 million boost to road maintenance, with more than 1000km of roads to be repaired, resurfaced or rebuilt across the state.

In 2018-19, $165.2 million would be spent on resurfacing regional and rural roads, with another $81 million for rehabilitation works.

A spokesman for Roads Minister Luke Donnellan said $87 million would be allocated to road rehabilitation in 2019-20, giving RRV the certainty it needed for longer term planning.

A further $229 million would go to Victoria’s highest risk roads as part of the Towards Zero Road Safety Action Plan, which includes more overtaking lanes, rumble strips and intersection upgrades.

The Budget also included $98 million for planning and pre-construction of bypasses on the Western Highway at Beaufort and Ararat, and $40 million to upgrade the Princes Highway West between Colac and the South Australian border.

Sections of the Calder Highway, Hamilton Highway and the Kiewa Valley Highway would be upgraded to improve safety, travel times and freight productivity.

Ballarat’s iconic Sturt Street will get a series of intersection upgrades between Pleasant St and Dyson Drive to reduce congestion and make it safer to access schools, shops and sports grounds

A new roundabout will be built on the Shepparton Alternate Route to improve safety and access for heavy vehicles.

Mr Donnellan said the Labor Government had doubled road maintenance spending since coming to office.