Tuesday, 19 March 2024

Rutherglen bypass

Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (15:00): Last Friday afternoon the people of Rutherglen held their collective breath as a very large low-loader truck travelling on Main Street left the road, wiped out a parked Kia Stinger GT, knocked over a power pole and crashed into the verandah of the Other Place cafe. Fortunately no-one was hurt as there were no pedestrians on the footpath, but had it been a few minutes earlier or the Friday before, when the Tastes of Rutherglen festival was on, it may have been a very different outcome.

Main Street, Rutherglen, is narrow and dangerous. It is a road that was established in the days of the horse and cart and is not suitable for use by the 500 trucks, including B-doubles, that rumble along it each day. Rutherglen needs a bypass. Only last sitting week I raised this issue in the adjournment because, as part of the Albanese government’s infrastructure investment program review, the federal Labor government withdrew the funding that had been allocated by the former Liberal government for the Rutherglen bypass study. The withdrawal of this funding is short-sighted and shows how little regard Labor has for regional communities like Rutherglen.

Last sitting week I asked the Minister for Roads and Road Safety to outline what is happening with the state share of funding for the Rutherglen bypass study. Surely last Friday’s accident must be enough to show the minister that the Rutherglen bypass study must be prioritised and that immediate safety measures must be implemented in Main Street, Rutherglen, to ensure further and possibly worse accidents do not occur.