Parts of several Goulburn Valley roads have received the lowest safety rating possible.
Sections of some Goulburn Valley roads have been ranked as having the lowest safety standard possible in a Victorian Government report, but many are not the roads that local drivers may immediately think of.
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The Department of Transport and Planning has used the Australia Road Assessment Program to assess the safety performance of Victoria’s state-owned roads.
Roads were ranked from one star to five stars, with a five-star road the safest, and a one-star road carrying the highest risk.
Among factors considered to boost safety are wider roads, trees away from the road, safety barriers on the sides and up the middle of roads, overtaking lanes, as well as roads being divided.
Only roads that fell under the control of the government are included, with council-managed roads not counted.
Several Goulburn Valley roads had sections of the road that have the lowest possible one-star rankings.
These included:
The Barmah-Shepparton Rd between Shepparton and Barmah, with more than two thirds of it ranked as a one-star road.
Part of the Katamatite-Shepparton Rd between Union Rd and Drumanure Rd.
Half of the Murchison-Tatura Rd near the Murchison end of it.
A section in the middle of the Tatura-Undera Rd.
A large section of Euroa-Shepparton Rd between Central Kialla and Miepoll.
The middle section of the Murchison-Violet Town Rd between Miepoll and Violet Town.
A section of Echuca-Mooroopna Rd, between Cornish and Ardmona Rds at Ardmona, is only one star, while other parts of the road are two and three stars, with one of the three-star sections between Tatura-Undera Rd and Wyuna.
One small part of the Dookie-Shepparton Rd, between Cochrane Rd and Cashel Rd.
Half of the Dookie-Nalinga Rd between Dookie and Nalinga.
Half of the Murray Valley Hwy between Wyuna and Strathmerton is also a one-star road, as well as another section close to Yarroweyah.
Despite many locals complaining about the pot-holed road surface of the Goulburn Valley Hwy and Goulburn Valley Fwy, the two roads did not fare badly in the report.
The Goulburn Valley Hwy was mainly classed as a three-star road, with a section that is two stars around Kialla West.
The Goulburn Valley Fwy has been classed as a four-star road — the second highest in safety — from Kialla West to Wahring-Murchison East Rd, but then it drops to a three-star road for most of the way to the Hume Fwy, except for the newer bypass section around Nagambie, which is classed as a four- and five-star road.
The roads marked in black are one-star roads, the red ones are two-stars, orange are three-stars, yellow are four-stars and green are five-stars.
Under the AusRAP star ratings, each step up in star rating halves the risk of fatalities or serious injury.
Therefore, someone travelling on a three-star road is half as likely to be killed or seriously injured as someone on a two-star road.
Victoria is working towards the national target of at least 80 per cent of travel on three-star or better roads by 2030, in line with the National Road Safety Strategy 2021-30.
State Member for Shepparton Kim O’Keeffe pointed out that no roads in her electorate had earned a five-star rating and said the many road sections with one-star ratings were putting lives at risk.
“A one-star rating is an alarm bell that cannot be ignored and is putting lives at risk,” Ms O’Keeffe said.
“Safe, reliable roads are not optional, they are essential.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe while travelling on our roads and it is time this government prioritises road safety and brings our roads up to an acceptable safe standard.
“The current ratings are absolutely not acceptable.”
In late September, the government announced a $976 million road maintenance blitz to rebuild, repair and resurface roads across Victoria.
Seventy per cent of the funding will go to regional roads, according to the government, with work to be done between now and mid-2026.
