LAND bought 20 years ago for the addition of an overtaking lane on the South Gippsland Highway between Foster and Yarram stands fenced but the lane has not been built.
Member for Gippsland South Danny O’Brien, brought the matter to the attention of state parliament on August 30.
“A short drive out to the west of Toora will take you to a long, narrow stretch of fenced land set aside for an overtaking lane that never happened,” Mr O’Brien said.
“There are a number of overtaking lanes between Nyora and Foster, but there is nothing from Foster onwards to Yarram.
“With more than 50 kilometres of highway between the towns, it is quite a distance to travel.
“The stretch from Foster to Toora is windy and frequented by milk trucks, logging trucks and people towing boats and caravans with little opportunity to safely overtake.”
Mr O’Brien said an opportunity to improve the highway east of Foster had been missed because of the financial blow-out on the current works at the Black Spur bends.
“The realignment of the Black Spur bends is a great project that I fought for for years and years, and the community has been after for a long time,” he said.
“It was my federal colleague Darren Chester who provided the funding at that time, as the Federal Minister for Infrastructure, which was ultimately matched by the then Victorian Roads Minister.
“The $50-million project was then to proceed with $40 million to go to the Black Spur realignment and a further $10 million for improvements between Meeniyan and Yarram – this did not occur because the Black Spur project blew out to $115 million.
“The South Gippsland Highway is the key arterial through South Gippsland and in need of much improvement,” Mr O’Brien told parliament.
“Additional works to improve the road must be undertaken, including completing the overtaking lane at Toora, which has been 20 years in the making.”
