ROADS are deteriorating and Member for Shepparton District Kim O’Keeffe is calling for action after the State Government announced it would begin a $976M ‘Regional Better Roads Blitz’ – the sixth regional road blitz announcement in just five years, yet O’Keeffe said, “very little has been done.”
“Victorians don’t want another glossy announcement with empty promises; they want their roads fixed and repairs that last. Spending almost a billion dollars on patch-ups is not a solution,” said O’Keeffe.
“Years of underinvestment and neglect have left drivers navigating potholes, cracked surfaces and unsafe roads, problems that could have been avoided if proper maintenance had been prioritised all along.
O’Keeffe said she has routinely called on the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, Melissa Horne, to repair roads in the Shepparton electorate as a matter of urgency.
“Just prior to this announcement, I sent the Minister a list of our most dangerous and neglected roads as well as photos so she can see the unbelievable extent of appalling and unsafe roads that we are dealing with,” she said.
“While the government claims 70 per cent of funding will go to regional areas, many communities remain sceptical. Country drivers face dangerous conditions daily, and they’re tired of repeated promises that fail to deliver.
“The blitz does nothing to address systemic issues such as poor construction standards that see roads crumble after a short period of time, the mismanagement of funds that sees projects routinely over budget and behind schedule, or just a lack of transparency on how roads were prioritised and who really benefits,” said O’Keeffe.
