Confidence is shattered
How can the people of Rutherglen possibly have any confidence in the veracity of the headline 'Truck pain nears end” as reported in The Border Mail (February 2).
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Residents have been calling for a bypass for well over 20 years and were heartened when in 2016, thanks to the support of locals and visitors for the Re-Route-Rutherglen campaign, and an election promise, we attracted funding for planning for a Heavy Vehicle Deviation.
A highlight of this campaign were the 400 ‘Pictitions’ (photographs of people with their comments recorded on sticky notes) that supported the hundreds of traditional name, address and signature petitions calling for a reduction in the number of trucks passing through the township.
The state government matched the Coalition’s promise and for the first time we had the money: $4 million dollars was directed to VicRoads to finally get things moving in keeping with our motto of safety and sustainability for our town.
In November 2017 there was a great deal of excitement when traffic counters and cameras were installed around town to gather data for a definitive study called an Origin and Destination Report. This report had a $600,000 price tag and was due to be released early last year. But details of this report were delayed until “mid-June” then again until “mid-to-late-July 2018.” We were amazed to hear on ABC radio a few weeks later that VicRoads was going out to the community for further consultation.
Previously the state transport minister Luke Donnellan confirmed that there were 590 heavy vehicles passing through the town in a normal 24-hour timespan but during the one-on-one conversations held during the drop-in sessions there were discrepancies in the information presented.
It seemed unlikely that there were over 300 heavy vehicles recorded as local traffic in a 24-hour period. Also, the times were broken up into 25-minute increments. So if a truck driver was able to find a legal park for his vehicle and bought a pie, a cappuccino and The Border Mail and chose to leave after 26 minutes, he would not be counted.
The article indicates that consideration will now be given to information gathered from the drop-in day and online surveys rather than the professionally commissioned Origin and Destination Report resulting in extra costs and even more delays in improving the amenity of our town.
It’s unacceptable that even fast food outlets and minor towns have better road markings and signage than this town which has the Murray Valley Highway passing through its heart. And it’s outrageous that the recent street beautification program has not delivered meaningful benefits to either locals or our visitors, especially for the aged and disabled. We have less car parking and we are no safer now than we were in 2016. It’s time for action.
Roberta Horne, Rutherglen
They call it progress
Reading The Border Mail Weekender cover story ('From heartache to heartfelt tribute', February 9), I noticed that in 1969 the Southern Aurora was travelling at 172km/h when it collided with a goods train. So 50 years ago our railway line could be used at speeds over 170km/h. Now in 2019 the train to Melbourne rarely gets to 110km/h, that's if it can travel at all. So much for progress.
