Repair to King Valley road as state budget looms

REPAIR works will be carried out on the Wangaratta-Whitfield Road in the coming weeks with work at five locations starting on the major tourist road. It follows concerns voiced by locals at the April council meeting about the state of the road. Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes told the Wangaratta Chronicle that works are scheduled for the road, in Oxley. “Locals can also expect to see crews completing road repair works at five locations along Mansfield-Whitfield Road between Whitfield and Whitlands from 1 May. "We’re rebuilding, repairing and resurfacing hundreds of Victorian roads as part of the largest single-year investment in road maintenance in the state’s history.” Locals can also expect to see crews completing road repair works on Wangaratta-Whitfield Road about 2km north of Snow Road this financial year. "We’re investing $964 million towards maintaining Victoria’s road assets as part of our 2024-25 road maintenance program – the equivalent of $2.6 million every single day – with works being delivered on hundreds of roads, including Wangaratta-Whitfield Road," a government spokesperson said. "Crews have already completed maintenance works, including pothole repairs, at seven additional locations along Wangaratta-Whitfield Road in 2025." This masthead also contacted the state government about wider scale renewal works for the road, which locals and council have rallied for over several years. The government spokesperson said they will hand down the budget this month which will be focused on making sure that every dollar of investment goes to where it matters most - supporting families and frontline services. Leading community advocate John Bridges quizzed council at the April council meeting in Moyhu about the long delay in having the road fixed. Council acting director community and infrastructure Ben Thomas said council officers continue to advocate the state government for Improvements to the road. "This incudes reviewing the condition on-site with the senior Regional Roads Victoria staff during April," he said. "Council officers are advocating for improvements to the road width and seal quality in the section between Moyhu and Whitfield." Mr Bridges took issue with what he believes has been a lack of information and asked council to give people the feedback "instead of a few throw away lines". "We as the community have had enough of that," he said. "We drive it day-in-day-out and there was very nearly a severe accident there a few weeks ago when two cars side swiped each other on a section of the road that is very, very thin. "The road is falling apart and putting a circle around a pothole is not maintenance and we’re not getting maintenance on this road. “We as a community are just sick of it. “What can we as a community and as a council do to get some action on this road?" Mayor Irene Grant that across Victoria, that road isn’t the only problem that Regional Roads Victoria have. She said they must advocate to the state and federal governments. "We need to also talk to them about the importance of that road to the whole tourist infrastructure of this part of the world,” Cr Grant said. Mr Bridges said he and Chis Hazel had been working on the issue for five years and they are no further advanced than when they started. Cr Grant said when she was mayor 20 years ago they were talking about the road then and it was a terrible problem. Rural city CEO Brendan McGrath responded to Mr Bridges' question about the reasons for why the problem still hasn’t been fixed. “The reality is it’s not a council road and we don’t control the maintenance on it,” he said. “I’ve spent more time talking to various levels of government about the condition of that road than I would have about any other priority of council. “It remains one of the six or seven priorities in our advocacy document.” Both Cr Grant and Mr McGrath mentioned how they talked to Victorian Treasurer Jaclyn Symes about the road and potential funding when she visited at the start of March. Mr McGrath advised the people advocating for the road renewal to make sure the state government is hearing their concerns directly. Cr Tania Maxwell also advised for the community to keep records of their correspondence with the state government and VicRoads, which could prove valuable in the future.

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