POTHOLES that have caused chaos for two years on the South Gippsland Highway in Lang Lang are leaving locals furious at long wait times and dangerous driver behaviour.
Two lanes have been forced to merge into one on the northbound lane of the highway, because of large potholes, continuously causing congestion for hundreds of metres during busy weekend and holiday periods.
It is the major and only direct route for holidaymakers travelling back to Melbourne from popular tourist spots such as Phillip Island, where the population triples in the summertime.
Smaller backroads like McDonalds Track are also becoming busy and backed up with drivers trying to avoid the notorious section of road.
Locals are now actively avoiding the road during peak holiday times and while locals are aware of conditions and drive accordingly, behaviour from other drivers is cause for concern with people flashing their lights and roaring dangerously up the lefthand side and cutting off other cars, due to the delays.
Locals say they are sick of attempts to fix the potholes, which open up again soon after patching and predictably lead back to the same problems.
“The pothole opposite the Shell Service Station has been nicknamed ‘Arnie’ by the locals, as in the Arnold Schwarzenegger quote, ‘I’ll be back!’ As it always returns as soon as there’s heavy traffic, like school holidays, bikes at the Island or heavy rain,” stated one local resident.
“The guys come and put a band-aid fix on it by filling the hole, but they never fix it properly. In order to fix it, they need to dig up an entire section of the road and re-lay it, which it seems they either don’t have the budget for or just don’t care.
“Locals are really sick of the temporary fixes and crazy traffic hold-ups when they reduce the road to just one lane, and just want it fixed correctly once and for all.”
State Member for Bass, Jordan Crugnale MP, is seeking more information from the relevant authorities on why the lane on the stretch of highway has been closed for the past three weeks.
“I have raised and escalated this over the holiday period a number of times and know this is causing a lot of frustration and significant travel delays too,” stated Ms Crugnale.
“As an update, crews have been working since Thursday evening January 16 to repair this stretch of road and I’m advised both lanes are on track to reopen early next week.”
The Department of Transport and Planning have confirmed night works are taking place with the lane scheduled to be reopened by today, Tuesday, January 21.
They also state that other repairs have recently been completed on the outbound section of the highway and post-work inspections have indicated that there are no further issues.
“I’d like to thank everyone for their immense patience as this stretch of the South Gippsland Highway in Lang Lang gets back up and running,” said Ms Crugnale.
Urgent road maintenance issues can be reported by calling 13 11 70 or online at vicroads.vic.gov.au/contact-us/feedback-and-enquiries.