Country Victorians will soon have “unprecedented” access to information on the condition of country roads, road works and upgrades as VicRoads overhauls the way it manages its networks.
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Minister for roads and road safety Luke Donnellan joined VicRoads chief executive John Merritt today to announce new plans to roll out star rating tools for some of the state’s most dangerous roads.
Twenty Victorian roads would be among the first to be rated, with hopes the information would help inform future infrastructure investments.
That would include the Calder Freeway between Melbourne and Bendigo.
“We are already doing the upgrades of the 20 most dangerous higher-order arterials in the state with wire rope barriers and the like,” Mr Donnellan said.
“But we now need to grade them so that we can give people the opportunity to be more informed and know what’s going on.”
Mr Donnellan said the changes would bolster transparency, as would additions to the VicRoads website.
From today Victorians would also be able to log onto a digital dashboard on the VicRoads website to track progress on pothole repairs and other maintenance efforts across the state.
The data showed last months there were 50 potholes repaired in Bendigo. The highest number of potholes fixed was in August with 172.
The dashboard also included a regional breakdown of lives lost on the road since 1987 and information on truck use.
The changes came in response to the Country Roads, Your insights, Our Actions report.
The report also responded to the changing face of farming in Victoria, with a new harvest scheme and red tape removal giving oversized agricultural equipment greater access to the roads.