A road to ruin

By Geelong Story Updates
A stretch of the main road to St Leonards is a threat to safety despite a $2 million upgrade a little over a year ago, according to motorists.
Murradoc Road has been plagued with problems related to its surface since the upgrade in December, 2005.
Vicroad installed wire rope barrier and widened a fivekilometre stretch following a spate of recent accidents, including a fatality.
Vicroads has since cut the road’s speed limit from 100km/h to an “advisory” 80km/h to protect public safety.
Soil instability was behind the problems, Vicroads said this week.
St Leonards Progress Association is lobbying the roads authority to fix the 400metre section, which president Graeme Collins described as “corrugated” on one side of the road.
Mr Collins said he had written to Vicroads and the RACV to draw their attention to safety concerns following the association’s meeting last week.
“Among the locals who’ve been down here for years it’s been known there’s an area of instability in that section of the roadway,” he said.
Vicroads regional manager Duncan Elliott said “a few” motorists and community groups had complained about Murradoc Road.
“We’re well aware of the road condition and it’s certainly not ideal,” Mr Elliott said.
“But at the same time we’ve got to make sure we prepare to undertake the right treatment.”
Mr Elliott said ongoing dry weather had exacerbated the problem since the upgrade.
Moisture removal had caused the ground to dry out and shrink, leading to “heaving”, he said.
“The failure is more about movement of the ground underneath than it is about the pavement strength itself.”
Mr Elliott said work on the road would require more than resealing and would only add to the costs of the project.
“In the meantime, we’re maintaining the road in safe conditions and I do understand that it’s rough,” he said.
Mr Elliott said Vicroads was developing a rehabilitation proposal for the area.
Vicroads would consider the section between the intersection of Murradoc and Bluff roads against other proposals as a part of a 2007/08 statewide works program.