The Allan Labor Government has failed to address the road safety concerns of regional Victorians again after it slashed the speed limit at the Bank Street intersection instead of completing long-promised upgrades.
The Nationals’ Member for Morwell, Martin Cameron, said the speed limit on the Princes Highway through Bank Street was cut to 60 km/h under the cover of darkness.
It comes in the wake of mounting concerns from The Nationals, road users and sporting clubs about an increase in accidents and near misses at the notoriously dangerous intersection.
“It has been nearly two years since work started to upgrade the Bank Street intersection but that has all come to grinding halt because Labor has failed to complete the railway signalling works,” Mr Cameron said.
“Without these works, and without traffic lights on the poles, it’s no exaggeration to say this intersection is a death trap.
“Instead of applying a band-aid fix by reducing the speed limit, the Minister for Roads Melissa Horne must get serious about finishing this vital project.”
Labor cut $88 million from its Road Safety Fund this year and will oversee a further reduction of 27 per cent next financial year, despite a rise in the road toll.
“It is not good enough that motorists are forced to risk their lives every day simply because of this government’s inaction and incompetence,” Mr Cameron said.
“If Labor can remove 80 level crossings across metropolitan Melbourne in the space of four years, then surely it can extend the same courtesy to the people of the Latrobe Valley who have waited nearly a decade for this one single project to be finished.
“Labor can’t manage money, can’t manage roads, and regional Victorians are paying the price.”
