KINGLAKE, VIC. — “The [Labor] State Government has dismissed growing community concerns over dangerous conditions on Whittlesea–Kinglake Rd,” Eildon [Liberal] MLA Cindy McLeish says.
Residents raised concerns before winter. Ms McLeish called in March for urgent action to restore faded centre and edge line markings across the Kinglake Ranges, warning that heavy fog, winding roads and poor visibility created a serious safety risk.
Instead of committing to fix the problem, the Government responded by defending its methods and encouraging drivers to report hazards.
Ms McLeish says the government’s response is out of touch with the realities faced by regional drivers.
Parts of the Whittlese-Kinglake Road (C725) were repaired and line-marked with reflective orange road markings, which are much easier to see in the often occurring Kinglake ‘pea souper’ fogs than standard white road markings.
In NSW towns scattered around the Blue Mountains, which experience similar winter driving conditions to Kinglake, all major roads are line-marked with the highly visible orange line markings.
Kinglake residents fought after the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009 to have the entire Whittlesea-Kinglake Rd, Kinglake-Healeveville Rd, Glenburn Rd and Heidelberg-Kinglake Rd marked with orange line-marking. It was to no avail.
“The problem isn’t that the Government doesn’t know about these faded line markings – it’s that they’ve chosen to do nothing about them,” Ms McLeish said.
