Victorian Opposition Leader, Matthew Guy, announced that if the Liberal Nationals Government is elected it will invest $1 billion over ten years in a “Road Fix Blitz” program to fix country and regional roads.
Mr Guy said funding for the Road Fix Blitz will be made up of $400 million for the Country Roads and Bridges program, another $400 million for targeted road restoration and a $200 million boost for general road maintenance.
The Country Roads and Bridges program is dedicated to fixing roads managed by regional councils. The $400 million for targeted road restoration is about strategic investment in restoring roads before repairs become critical — this program will be managed by the Victorian Government in consultation with the local community.
The $200 million investment in general road maintenance is another program managed by the Victorian Government focusing on running repairs informed by information provided by a new smartphone app but also with input from local government.
An elected Liberal Nationals Government will commission a new smartphone app for the real-time reporting of road hazards or locations where there has been a sudden and dangerous degradation. This will improve response times for urgent repair work to minimise the danger of accidents that result in injury or worse.
The $1 billion Road Fix Blitz will also invest to improve roads before they begin to break down which will save lives and save taxpayers in the long run. This approach has been supported by the Auditor-General.
Under this project, VicRoads will develop a program of works each year based on input from community and stakeholders. The Road Fix Blitz program will be in addition to existing road maintenance and restoration initiatives delivered by VicRoads.
“Safer country and regional roads, save country lives,” Mr Guy said.
“That’s why I have a plan to spend $1 billion on fixing country and regional roads as well as building High Speed Rail across Victoria, reaching speeds of up to 200km/h, which will get more people off regional roads and onto trains.”
Leader of The Nationals, Peter Walsh, said the $1 billion Road Fix Blitz will inject significant funds upfront to fix country and regional roads properly.
“No more patch-up jobs, but proper fixes to get back in control of regional road maintenance. Before the last election Daniel Andrews claimed the East West Link contract wasn’t worth the paper it was written on and that lie cost taxpayers $1.3 billion.
“It’s unforgiveable that Daniel Andrews wasted $1.3 billion that could have been spent on improving the safety of regional roads,” Mr Walsh said.
