Ongoing delays to planned safety upgrades on one of the region’s most dangerous roads have been slammed by the state opposition
The Victorian Government first committed $50 million to upgrading Geelong-Bacchus Marsh Rd in 2016, but a 2020 Auditor General’s report found the vital project had been heavily slowed down.
Six people have been tragically killed and another 32 seriously injured in crashes on the stretch between 2010 and 2017.
It’s understood excessive rainfall and Covid restrictions hindered the project’s progress, but crews will work over multiple sites this summer to pick up the pace.
Despite calls from then-roads minister Luke Donnellan to fast-track upgrades in 2017, the Auditor General found three years later the project was the most-delayed of the state government’s $1 billion top-20 roads upgrade blitz.
Western Victoria MP Bev McArthur said “not even berating from the Auditor General” had motivated the state government to pick up pace.
“Blaming Covid and wet weather for the failure to complete safety upgrades on one of the state’s most dangerous roads is offensive to those who depend on this road, the 5900 vehicles, every day,” she said.
“These aren’t just cars or trucks, they’re lives.”
