Rural roads going to ruin

Dear editor,

Every time we get on the road in country areas, it’s like going through an obstacle course of potholes.

Time and time again we hear of close calls, near misses, or frightening incidents where a tragedy has been avoided by the closest of margins.

We have to face the fact that, thanks to 10 years of Labor, country roads are a mess.

We always hear from the Labor State Government that more money is being spend on country roads than ever before. That’s usually followed by some excuse as to why our roads are still bad and that you’ll have to put up with it, just for a little bit longer.

Meanwhile in Melbourne, $84.1bn is being spent on the Suburban Rail Loop East, and another $132.5bn on the Suburban Rail Loop North. We should note, this only services suburbs from Cheltenham to Box Hill. The airport rail link continues to be under a cloud.

That’s in stark contrast to country Victoria, where it appears as though more money is spent on “road works” signs, than road works themselves.

What really rubs salt into the wound, is that Premier Jacinta Allen is meant to be a country person. She represents the regional electorate of Bendigo East and you’d think, of all people, she would understand regional Victorians and our gripe with the poor condition of country roads.

I guess it’s fallen on deaf ears.

Sadly, it’s every road user who pays the price in busted tyres, repairs and replacements.

With the road toll sitting at 148 lives lost this year, I hope nobody pays the ultimate price for shoddy country roads.

Joe McCracken

Member for Western Victoria