New roads officer to lead maintenance blitz

GEELONG engineer Paul Northey has been appointed to lead Regional Roads Victoria, a new division of VicRoads to oversee a huge road maintenance blitz.

Minister for Roads and Road Safety Luke Donnellan announced that Mr Northey will take up the new role of chief regional roads officer next month.

Mr Northey has held senior engineering roles at Barwon Water and Coliban Water in Bendigo.

He has extensive experience delivering essential infrastructure services and understands the critical importance of a reliable and safe road network to regional Victorians.

As the head of Regional Roads Victoria, Mr Northey will oversee Labor’s $941 million investment in country roads – with more than 1,000 kilometres of road to be repaired, resurfaced or rebuilt across country Victoria this year.

“I have lived in regional Victoria for around 30 years, and I know first-hand how important safe and reliable roads are to the livelihood and productivity of regional communities,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to visiting communities across the state to talk about Regional Roads Victoria, and to learn more about their priorities as we upgrade the regional road network.”

Regional Roads Victoria will be a division of VicRoads, based in Ballarat, with a presence in regional centres across the state, and has been established to provide a strong coordinated approach to road maintenance across the state.

“We’ve invested close to $1 billion this year to fix Victoria’s regional road network – and Paul will oversee that record program of road repairs, rehabilitation and resurfacing across the regional network,” Mr Donellan said.

“Since coming to office we’ve more than doubled spending on road maintenance, Paul will have a crucial role in making sure that this massive investment delivers the outcomes regional Victorians need.”

VicRoads chief executive Michael Malouf said the creation of Regional Roads Victoria marked a signficant change in the way VicRoads managed the state’s regional road network, and welcomed Mr Northey’s appointment.

“Paul will hit the ground running in September as we get on with fixing regional roads across the state.”