Federal Member for Gippsland, Darren Chester, has urged bureaucrats to ‘speed up the delivery of urgent road safety projects’ as motorists wait years for projects to start.
Mr Chester said it was frustrating to secure funding for projects and then wait years for work to begin.
“After a year of increased road deaths and serious injuries, I would expect the State and Federal Governments to fast track road safety improvements but they are stuck in the slow lane and Minister Catherine King is refusing to answer basic questions,” Mr Chester said.
“Our highways and major arterial roads across East Gippsland are a patchwork quilt of potholes and crumbling surfaces thanks to the State Government’s failure to invest enough funding in maintenance and upgrades.
“But it’s even more frustrating that projects don’t move quickly when funding is secured. In 2021, I convinced the previous Federal Government to give the State Government $10 million to increase the resilience of the Mallacoota-Genoa Road and deliver safety improvements.
IMAGE: Safety improvements to road projects have continued to stall around the state, with motorists waiting years for projects to even begin. One of these projects is the Mallacoota-Genoa Road, which was significantly damaged during the Black Summer Bushfires. Since then, a number of hold ups have hampered upgrades to improve the road’s safety.
