State Member for Shepparton District Kim O’Keeffe has raised the example of a road accident last month that took the lives of five people as an example of why urgent action is required to remedy the dangerous section of road.
The accident occurred between Strathmerton and Yarroweyah at the intersection of Labuan Rd and the Murray Valley Hwy.
Ms O’Keeffe raised the matter on the floor of Victorian parliament, demanding Roads and Road Safety Minister Melissa Horne immediately and urgently intervene to improve safety in the area.
Ms O’Keeffe said the crash had highlighted how devastating a dangerous piece of road could be.
“This is a very dangerous, very deadly intersection. This was the second fatal collision here in just over a year,” Ms O’Keeffe said.
“There is a rise from an old railway line a very short distance before you get to the corner, which does have a give way sign, but even vehicles travelling within the speed limit still come on it too suddenly, with little warning time to slow down.
“It is badly designed, and three other crashes in the past two years, on top of the two fatal incidents, prove that.”
Ms O’Keeffe said she feared more deaths would occur if swift action was not taken to improve the intersection.
“If this intersection is not improved now, it is only a matter of when, not if, there will be another bad smash and maybe more lives lost,” she said.
Ms O’Keeffe said too many people were still losing their lives on regional roads, and the statistics were alarming.
She pointed to TAC figures for the current year showing 64.2 per cent of Victoria’s road fatalities had occurred on regional and rural roads, when the regions represented only 25 per cent of the state’s population.
“The Andrews Labor Government must urgently inject additional funds into the upcoming budget to repair Victoria’s dilapidated regional roads network and fix unsafe intersections,” Ms O’Keeffe said.
“He (Premier Daniel Andrews) managed to spend a small fortune removing level rail crossings in Melbourne, but the figures prove that money, and more, must be better spent in regional areas.
“Road trauma causes pain and damage for years, even generations, beyond the crash itself, and we need to do whatever we can to avoid a repeat of something as profoundly overwhelming as the Strathmerton crash ever happening again.”
State Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell has also called for the government to find a safe solution for the intersection.
Temporary traffic measures have been implemented to slow traffic down on both roads, with temporary 60km/h signs put in place on both Labuan Rd and the Murray Valley Hwy.
Temporary ‘intersection ahead reduce speed’ signs have also been erected on Labuan Rd as motorists approach the intersection.