Labor Fixing roads that need it the most

Minister for Roads and Road Safety Luke Donnellan visited Creswick Monday to launch Regional Roads Victoria, the new division of VicRoads that will oversee the Andrews Labor Government’s record $941 million investment regional roads.

New Chief Regional Roads Officer Paul Northey will hit the ground running, with major road rebuilds starting this
month on sections of the Hume Highway at Winton, the Princes Highway near Moe and Borung Highway at Dimboola.

As the weather warms, crews will be out in force delivering hundreds more road upgrades across the state – boosting safety and reducing congestion in regional and rural communities.

Minister Luke Donnellan said “Regional Victorians will get the attention they deserve as we get on and deliver the biggest road maintenance blitz the state has ever seen.”

“Over the coming months, you’ll see crews fixing hundreds of the country roads that people rely on every day to get to work or take their kids to school.”

More than 1,500 kilometres of country roads will be repaired, resurfaced or rebuilt under a record $333 million maintenance program – creating around 650 construction jobs in regional Victoria.

Victorians will now be able to see what works are underway or planned across the state via the new website – regionalroads.vic.gov.au and a dedicated, Ballarat based, call centre 133 RRV (778).

For the first time, the community can view and keep track of the annual program of maintenance works and projects thanks to a new interactive state-wide map.

The new Regional Roads Victoria call centre is open Monday to Friday (8am-6pm) and is there to help locals enquiring about what improvements are planned, to report a hazard or to discuss road maintenance issues in their area.

Based within the existing Wendouree regional office, the establishment of Regional Roads Victoria has already created 24 Ballarat-based jobs. The division will later move into the Ballarat GovHub.

Regional Roads Victoria Chief Regional Roads Officer Paul Northey said “We know the condition of country roads is the number one challenge on our arterial network – that’s why we’re getting straight to work this month to repair and rebuild the roads that need it most.”

“Regional Roads Victoria is based in regional Victoria and staffed by people who drive on country roads every day – we’re here in Ballarat, with offices, depots and service centres across the state to fix the roads you rely on.”

The Labor Government has more than doubled road maintenance spending since coming to office.