IF Leongatha ever gets the funding to reconstruct “Kamikaze Corner” they should rename it “the Danny O’Brien Bypass” for the tenacious way the local MP has almost single-handedly kept the fender-bending intersection on the boil.
After putting the following question to the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, Melissa Horne, recently, Mr O’Brien was at it again in the past week, posting a reel video on site there last Wednesday, July 3.
You can view the video at https://www.facebook.com/reel/1562519614473794.
“The South Gippsland Highway and Kamikaze Corner is only going to get busier with the closure of the Pakenham Saleyards likely to bring hundreds more trucks to the town accessing the saleyards at Koonwarra.”
Mr O’Brien said he had long been campaigning for the reconstruction of one of the most dangerous intersections in Victoria but the closure of the Pakenham Saleyards, and the expansion of the Leongatha Saleyards should provide new impetus for the government to back a key part of Victoria’s rural economy and announce funding for the intersection.
Here’s what Mr O’Brien asked the Minister in Parliament back in May:
“My question is to the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and the information I seek is a progress update on stage 2 of the Leongatha heavy vehicle bypass. When I say an update, there has been no funding yet for stage 2 of the Leongatha heavy vehicle bypass. This is a situation stage 1 created. It is known to locals in Leongatha as ‘kamikaze corner’ because it is a shocking intersection, where visitors and locals alike do not know where they are meant to be going or where they are meant to be turning. There are issues with the bike trail straight through the middle of town as well. More than 1000 people signed a petition several years ago to get this intersection fixed, and I would like the minister to explain when this intersection is going to be fixed and when stage 2 of the Leongatha heavy vehicle bypass will actually proceed.”
The closure of the Pakenham Saleyards and announcement of significantly increased throughput at the Leongatha Saleyards only strengthens the need for these works to be finally funded.
