Tony Parisi wants action, not letters from the State Government.
By Melissa Meehan
THE Black Spur is the gateway to the Marysville Triangle towns and residents and businesses fear visitors to the area will stop coming if the road is not made safer.
Nut farmer Tony Parisi says now, more than ever, is the time for the Government to upgrade the winding road to the bushfire affected towns.
“A safer way through the Black Spur is well overdue,” Mr Parisi said.
“But the Premier either doesn’t know or want to know about the problem.”
This year Mr Parisi handed over a petition signed by 1597 people from both ends of the Black Spur to Seymour MP Ben Hardman for tabling in State Parliament asking for the Government to commit to funding a new road and widen the existing road on the Black Spur.
Both Premier John Brumby and Roads and Ports Minister Tim Pallas were also sent a copy of the petition.
And while Mr Parisi said feedback from the Premier was not positive, he would continue his push for a safer way to The Triangle.
He said almost everyone in the valley had a near miss story, and frequent accidents along the Spur meant something needed to be done.
“Sometimes I think the Government just wants to wait and see how many people get killed before they will do something,” he said.
“It is very important to the area, we need people to come and support the businesses that are left.
“But people won’t come if they don’t feel safe travelling here.”
Mr Parisi wants the Government to construct a new road and use the existing road as an emergency back up.
He said an alternative proposal would be to make necessary improvements to the existing road to make it safe by widening the road by one metre or to upgrade the Old Spur Road so it could carry outbound traffic, while the existing road could cater for inbound traffic.
In a letter from the office of the Premier of Victoria responding to the concerns, chief of staff Dan O’Brien said $500,000 of upgrades were completed on the Black Spur in 2008/09 in after several motorcycle accidents.
“As these safety improvements were made only two years ago, VicRoads has advised there is not yet enough data on recent accident rates to accurately compare with those that occurred prior to the improvements,” the letter said. “Truck accidents have highlighted driver behaviour and roadworthiness as significant contributors and as a result VicRoads will be monitoring truck use and undertaking roadworthiness testing.”
The letter also said in 2003 VicRoads investigated the feasibility of developing an alternative route through the Yarra Ranges National Park should the Black Spur need to be closed temporarily.
The investigation found that the most feasible option would be to seal Acheron Way but the route also passed through mountainous terrain and was a much longer route and concluded that it would not be suitable for trucks using the Black Spur.
VicRoads metropolitan south east regional director Duncan Elliott said the areas surrounding the Black Spur, including Healesville, Marysville and the Buxton area, have been the subject of complaints concerning some truck and trailer combinations using these roads.
“VicRoads will continue to monitor the safety performance and operating conditions along the route and assess the need for any further improvements or intervention,” Mr Elliott said.
Mr Parisi said he will continue to lobby the Government and VicRoads.
