General News
22 November, 2024
Victoria - the road to nowhere fast
Why won't the state explore different road work methods?
EDITORIAL
Victoria has had a range of vehicle registration plate slogans in the past 50 years. In the 1970s and '80s it was the Garden State, in 1985 the Nuclear Free State, in the mid 1990s we carried 'Victoria - On the Move' slogans and more recently we were promoting Victoria as The Place to Be and The Education State.
Maybe our latest should be Victoria - the road to nowhere smooth or fast.
We have repeatedly chronicled the state of our dilapidated, crumbling and bumpy roads so it would seem appropriate to acknowledge that on our vehicles, wouldn't it?
Our frustrations, even anger, at the state of our roads has become normal. Our children are starting their driving careers on dangerous roads and soon they will only know the pot holes, rollercoaster dips and corrugated iron-like channels as par for the course.
Every time the state government trots out the message it is embarking on a big-dollar maintenance frenzy, it's hard not to be cynical. The patch-ups are just that. They don't last.
This week we revealed Victorian had been offered an "unbreakable" road surface but the state government said 'no thanks'.
Australian scientists and road experts have developed a product called Polypave, which creates a road surface 750 times more water resistant than current asphalt or cement roads.
The product has been certified by the Australian Roads Research Board (ARRB) after three years of testing and its developers said it would cost the same amount as asphalt or cement.
But despite a short - and closing - window to build a demonstration road under its certification, the state government has rejected the offer, citing the "risk" of a trial.
Polypave CEO John Lyons said "the gatekeepers running each road authority are very reluctant to look at anything new".
Really? Wouldn't the government want to find a more cost-effective solution especially given the state of Victoria's finances?
Imagine going to the next election with a policy to re-build roads rather than throwing more and more money at a problem with little long-lasting result.
We also revealed this week Victoria's road maintenance spending had surged over the past decade, but the state's regional network was dangerously dilapidated.
The government's own data shows it has deteriorated over the past three years, and despite a record $964 million investment in 2024-25, it is expected to get even worse.
Mr Lyons said there were two much bigger issues: the government had outsourced its maintenance to multinational, profit-driven companies, and it had given those companies free rein over the repair regime. It was a case of the tail wagging the dog.
It's hard to disagree.
This week we asked the state government to reveal the full list of roads earmarked for works under its latest $700m road maintenance blitz.
We travelled the Hamilton Highway between Mortlake and Cressy and documented 40 different 'rough surface' or 'hazard' signs and reduced speed limits across more than 14 kilometres of road. Some of those slower speed signs are now mandatory and have been for lengthy periods. There were plenty of other sections that needed warning signs too. Those stretches of the highway weren't on the government's initial list for works.
It emerged during a public accounts and estimates committee hearing earlier this week almost 500 kilometres of Victoria's roads required temporary speed limit reductions or other safety measures.
So why wouldn't the government want to explore the possibility of Polypave? Why is the government unwilling to try alternatives? We all know doing the same thing over and over again and getting the same unsatisfactory result is not the answer. Except this government, it seems.