The Member for Northern Victoria, Wendy Lovell, has called on the State Government to provide funding to repair and upgrade Ross Street in Tatura.
Ross Street forms part of route C357 through the township with the Tatura-Undera Road and the Murchison-Tatura Road from Undera to Murchison.
During the adjournment debate in State Parliament last week, Ms Lovell sought a funding commitment from the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, Ben Carroll, to repair and upgrade the road to reflect the quantity and type of vehicles that use the thoroughfare, highlighting the damage to the road’s surface between Edgar Street and William Street.
While initially built predominately for the use of passenger vehicles, the C357, including Ross Street, is now the major thoroughfare for heavy vehicles transporting goods to Melbourne from the northern and western parts of the Goulburn Valley.
“Ross Street is not built to handle the many heavy vehicles that use it and the Minister needs to commit funding to first repair and then upgrade the road for these vehicles for the safety of all motorists,” Ms Lovell said.
In response to a specific enquiry about Ross Street by The Adviser, a spokesperson from Minister Carroll’s office said, “Last maintenance season, around 1,500km of regional roads were improved thanks to the State Government’s $425M investment over two years to rebuild and resurface arterial roads.
“The Victorian Government is investing more than ever before to make country roads safer and has doubled spending on road maintenance compared with the Liberals who let country roads fall into disrepair for four long years.”
