The Problem

The government authority VicRoads is responsible for maintaining our road network. This includes ensuring roads are designed and maintained to standards that protect road users. They also manage large areas of roadside land that exist in road reserves. In maintaining, or upgrading roads, VicRoads often clears native vegetation. Sometimes this is necessary.

However, we believe that an over emphasis on ‘engineering’ solutions within VicRoads has lead to massive destruction of native vegetation.

We believe that VicRoads has often been inflexible in terms of considering alternative options when undertaking road works. These options include guard rails, rope networks for branches, selective rather than broadscale clearing, reduced speedlimits in key areas, and so on.

Given the unwillingness of VicRoads to adopt a more sensitive approach to keeping roadways safe and build new roads, we have launched this campaign. Ultimately this is an issue for the state government, and so we are also focusing on the Roads Minister, Luke Donnellan.

Specific road widening projects managed by VicRoads

For information on roadside vegetation issues where VicRoads is not involved or not the main land manager, please check here.

Western Highway Expansion

For information, please check the facebook page from WHAM (Western Highway Alternative Mindsets)

Rushworth road widening (northern Victoria)

For information, please check the facebook page from Rushworth Action Group for the Environment RAGE