MCARTHUR PREPARES BARRIER PETITION
On the 27th of May 2019, Mrs McArthur submitted a series of questions on notice to the Minister for Roads, inquiring about the State Government’s justification for the considerable expenditure on wire rope barriers along the state’s highways.
On the 2nd of July, Mrs McArthur raised concern over the $1 billion spent on wire rope barriers amidst an increasing road toll and poor road quality in rural and regional Victoria.
On the 28th of November, Mrs McArthur used an adjournment debate in Parliament to ask the Minister for Roads specifically about the proposed installation of wire rope barriers along the Princes Highway between Allansford and Panmure. Mrs McArthur asked the Minister to provide “the road safety audits and justification research that has warranted the installation of these wire rope barriers… and a response from VicRoads to the community members affected by the issue.”
On the 19th of December, Mrs McArthur convened a public meeting with over fifty attendees concerned about the installation of wire rope barriers on the Princes Highway. Mrs McArthur heard from aggrieved community members, none of whom support this waste of taxpayers' money. Mrs McArthur said “The resounding plea to the Andrews' government from the local community is to build roads, not barriers.”
On the 20th of December, the Member for Western Victoria Region launched a petition opposing this installation and intends to table it in the Legislative Council in the first sitting week of Parliament in 2020.
Quotes attributable to Bev McArthur MP:
“The Labor Government’s curious insistence on installing wire rope barriers across our state’s highways should be treated with suspicion, particularly when local communities oppose them and foreign countries are removing them over safety concerns.” (‘EU reviewing wire barriers’, The Irish Times, 19/09/2007)
“The petition that I intend to table will demonstrate that this particular proposed installation along the Princes Highway is opposed by Allansford and Panmure residents, the Moyne Shire Council and Warrnambool City Council, and many Victorians across the state’s west.”
“The State Government compulsorily acquired the farming land in 1972 for highway duplication, but instead has chosen to leave it as a potential fire hazard and by installing wire rope barriers down the centre of a single carriage way is thereby forcing motorists to travel in a single line to and from Warrnambool, Port Fairy and further afield. So much for encouraging tourists and enabling commercial transport!”
“Regional Roads Victoria plan to set up a stall opposite the kiosk at a night market in Warrnambool – a pathetic excuse for community consultation. A pop-up drop-in stall is no substitute for a fully fledged public meeting.”
“There are a plethora of reasons why wire rope barriers are a bad idea: ongoing repair costs are extremely burdensome on the taxpayer, they prevent motorists from being able to pull over in cases of emergency, they make highways difficult for transport operators to drive on, barriers down the centre of single carriageways significantly hinder the mobility of large vehicles, and motorcyclists are seriously endangered.”
“This installation is just another example of bad decisions being made by bureaucrats in ministerial offices, a few minutes’ walk from the Yarra, without properly consulting rural communities who have to live with them.”
ENDS
20 January 2020