The parents of a teenager who died in a crash on Gisborne-Melton Road say upgrades are overdue.
As reported by the Weekly, the state government has announced $3 million to improve a 15-kilometre stretch between Hobbs Road in Toolern Vale and Melton Highway.
VicRoads said works, including installing wire-rope barriers and road widening, were likely to begin midway through next year.
Tracy and Alan Johnson said that while the money was welcome, they believed the much-needed upgrades could have saved the life of Tracy’s son, Ryan Waldie, had they occurred earlier.
Mr Waldie, 19, died on April 5 this year after a crash involving two cars and a truck.
“The report by police investigators found that a contributing factor to the accident was the state of the road,” Mr Johnson said.
“It said the road is not up to state standards and isn’t wide enough.’’
Since the crash, Mr and Mrs Johnson have been urging VicRoads to fix the road, which was the scene of 25 crashes in the five years to June this year, including three fatalities and 10 ‘‘run-off’’ crashes.
Mrs Johnson said there were many instances in Melton of temporary solutions instead of roads being fixed properly.
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Regional director Patricia Liew said VicRoads had been aware of the crash history along this section, which was why the project was developed and funded.
‘‘As part of the works, approximately 550 metres of Gisborne-Melton Road will be widened to help prevent run-off-road crashes. ’’
Mr and Mrs Johnson said they were disappointed with comments made by local police, who said it was unlikely anything could have prevented the fatalities on Gisborne-Melton Road because they were head-on collisions.
“An expert with three pages of qualifications and expertise stated if the road was maintained properly this crash was avoidable and my son would still be alive,’’ Mrs Johnson said.
