Tuesday, March 19, 2019
East Gippsland drivers pay for new road in city’s west
East Gippsland motorists can’t get local pot holes fixed and are having roadside barriers forced on them, only to find out today that Daniel Andrews is also forcing them to pay for his West Gate Tunnel deal.
Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull, said all drivers going in to Melbourne from Gippsland via CityLink will take a hip pocket hit after Daniel Andrews signed a deal with Transurban that will increase tolls to pay for the new West Gate Tunnel on the other side of Melbourne.
The independent Parliamentary Budget Office has released a report into the West Gate Tunnel Project and CityLink tolls which estimates the deal struck by the Andrews Labor Government will cost motorists an extra $37.3 billion in tolls.
The analysis shows that $26.5 billion of that increase (around 71 per cent) will come exclusively from CityLink users – and that includes East Gippsland drivers who use the Monash to attend medical appointments, work commitments or other personal matters.
“Our local country roads are in appalling condition due to funding cuts by the Andrews Labor Government, yet the Premier for Melbourne is now making us pay for his new Melbourne tunnel, which I would think the majority of Gippslanders won’t ever (or rarely) use,” said Mr Bull.
“It’s just unfair. He won’t front up for things like our badly needed Bairnsdale secondary college and is now making us pay for infrastructure on the other side of Melbourne.
“This is on top of the current government axing the $160 million Country Roads and Bridges program and slashing hundreds of thousands more from VicRoads country maintenance budget.
“Last year Labor MPs refused to support a Liberal Nationals’ amendment to the Transport Legislation Amendment Bill that would have increased funding for country roads,” said Mr Bull.
“Commercial vehicles already pay higher tolls, so any movement of fresh produce or freight that goes across the state via Melbourne will also cost more with Labor’s toll increases.
“The last thing our farmers and regional businesses need in this time of drought is escalating costs, but that’s exactly what this delivers,” he said
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
