Wednesday, 17 May 2023

Benambra electorate roads

Bill TILLEY (Benambra) (19:19): (179) I wish to raise a matter for the attention of the Minister for Roads and Safety, and the action I seek is for the minister to provide a priority time line for the urgent works on failed culverts that have led to road closures and traffic control measures throughout the Benambra district. I want to know what the pipeline is for the pipe works. At present we have Beechworth-Wodonga Road closed, commuters forced to take a less than ideal back road and a culvert made of granite blocks. I think most of us here might know how that happened, but one block has shifted. One block has completely fallen out.

Many of you here and you, Deputy Speaker, would know that Beechworth has the only true living history of the gold rush and the Kelly Gang story, but Beechworth and surrounding hobby farms are basically dormitories for people working in Wodonga, Albury and Wangaratta. The detour is a major issue for those travelling to work, school or doctors appointments or simply just doing their shopping. Others say it is a death trap. It was closed at Easter, and there is still no time line for the works. Of course social media has filled the void, with well-intentioned, community-minded folk having decided it is going to take around 18 months to fix. I think you can appreciate that that is unacceptable. It is also reduced to one lane a little closer to Wodonga, through another failed culvert.

Then we have the Murray Valley Highway just past the turn-off to Old Tallangatta. On this road to the Upper Murray, which, again, carries workers, students, logging trucks, B-doubles, milk trucks and a range of others, there are now traffic lights at two spots – one near the Hillock Australian White sheep stud and the other about a kilometre further on towards Corryong. Damaged culverts have reduced traffic to one lane. Bruce Campbell, who lives nearby to all this, fears the worst. He has already seen motorists frustrated by the delays run the red light. He is worried that on foggy mornings an unsuspecting B-double will tear into what is a winding section of road and cause major trauma. The lights have already been in place for the best part of three months. Bruce wants to know how long it is going to take to fix. The failure of these culverts has become systemic. We had the Gooramadda gorge, a 6-metre-deep chasm created by a failed culvert near Rutherglen on a major freight road, Indigo Creek Road. It still has a temporary fix after it was cut last November.

Road funding cannot be reduced in this budget. The damage from the 2022 rains highlighted the failure to adequately fund our road crews and the dire state of our roads, including these culverts from another century. You cannot replace them like for like, but they must be better and have greater capacity to be cleared more often. The Victorian Transport Association estimated $1 billion is needed for the post-flood reconstruction, but the government has only provided $165 million. (Time expired)