Great Alpine Road $910,000 boost

The Great Alpine Road will be one of the first locations to benefit from the Victorian Government’s $170 million package to address the condition of Victorian roads, Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, announced today.

“The Great Alpine Road is both a key tourist attraction for many visitors but also a busy road used daily by many locals and industry.

"A large amount of work has been undertaken on this road of recent times and this latest announcement that a further $910,000 will be spent on two sections of the road near Bruthen and Ensay is welcomed.

Across Gippsland a total of $9.74 million will be spent on road repairs under this package.

“The first contract to carry out these works will be advertised in coming weeks, with repairs set to start later this year in the warmer conditions required to construct road surfacing works,” Mr Bull said.

Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester commended the Victorian Government for listening to community concerns on the condition of local roads.

“In my recent Gippsland-wide survey, 76 per cent of respondents indicated that they didn’t believe the condition and level of maintenance on local roads was adequate,” Mr Chester said.

“The Victorian Government has implemented initiatives to address this problem, including this $170 million boost in funding.

“If the Coalition is able to form government after the coming Federal election, I will be pursuing a greater level of Commonwealth funding to address significant road issues in regional communities,” he said.

Mr Bull said VicRoads, for the first time, has a dedicated, multi-year capital program for road maintenance.

“This initiative includes $90 million which will go towards renewing deteriorated roads by strengthening the pavement and a further $80 million for resurfacing works to make roads more resilient to wet weather.

“The $170 million package will be delivered across three years, and will be a big improvement on the previous system that allocated funds on an annual basis.

“The previous system sometimes resulted in a short-term focus and didn’t always provide the best solution for the long-term.

“Making this significant commitment over the course of three years will give certainty which will lead to better decisions about the timing and type of maintenance to be carried out.

“It will also help us achieve better value for money from our maintenance contracts – all of this will result in better roads for Victorian motorists," Mr Bull said.