By Callum Ludwig
The ripples of the Roads for Community funding being ripped away continue to be felt in the Yarra Ranges, with another resident dismayed at the condition of their unsealed road.
Seville resident Peter Jones is unhappy with the state of Victoria Road in Seville, an important road which a large number of vehicles use regularly.
Mr Jones said he thinks the traffic is the main cause of the road’s deterioration.
“We were getting cars doing 80 or 90 kilometres an hour down here and that’s ridiculous for an unsealed road, and if cars are going to do 80 kilometres an hour, the road needs to be sealed, I think that’s half the issue and why we get the corrugations and the poor quality of the road,” he said.
“The dust gets so bad here and I even rang the Council and said ‘Can you just put some dust suppressant down’ because the amount of dust that we get into our properties is ridiculous, we can’t open the windows on hot days,”
“The road needs to be graded deeper, I was told by another excavation business that the road should be ripped up with rippers and then graded to get rid of all the corrugations but all they (Yarra Ranges Council) do is put the blade down, grade it and get rid of the corrugations but they pop back up in no time.”
Part of Victoria Road (between Station Road and Walker Road) was sealed in 2023 as one of the road sealing projects that survived the slash to Roads for Community funding, however a large section between Burgi Hill Road and Station Road remains unsealed.
A Yarra Ranges Council spokesperson said Victoria Road in Seville is graded six times per year, which is the highest number of grades that any road receives on their network.
“The road was partially sealed from Walker Street to Station Street using the Federal Government’s Roads for Community funding, as that section of road is more residential,” they said.
“If residents wish to have further sections of road sealed, they can submit a petition for Council to enter a special charge scheme, whereby residents agree to contribute to the sealing costs for the road,”
“While grading of unsealed roads helps maintain the condition of the road as best as possible, there are a number of reasons why road corrugations can occur.”
Residents of Walker Road, Seville, which connects to Victoria Road, also recently tabled a petition at the Tuesday 28 January Council meeting calling for their road to be prioritised for sealing, with their road also prone to large corrugations.
The council spokesperson said driving on an unsealed road is very different to driving on a sealed road, with speed being the main contributor to loss of material on an unsealed road.
“Unfortunately, road corrugations are unavoidable on unsealed roads, so we ask that motorists adjust their driving accordingly when on an unsealed road and drive to the conditions of that road,” they said.
“Other factors that can contribute to road corrugations include weather conditions and traffic volume.”
The continued concerns regarding local roads come as Casey MP Aaron Violi raised the issue again in Parliament.
Mr Violi said there is no doubt that one of the biggest issues, if not the biggest issue, that’s raised with him when it comes to underinvestment in the community is roads.
“The Albanese Labor government, when in opposition, committed to the program; there is a press release from the Prime Minister himself talking about how important this program was to improve safety in my community,” he said.
“Yet in 2022 he cut that funding, and that cut impacted over 450 local roads that were due to be sealed,”
“Again, as I have for two and a half years, I call on the Albanese Government to honour their word, to honour their commitment that they made to provide funding to our community so that we can continue sealing local roads.”
