The recent installation of rumble strip material along the centre of some roads in the Wimmera has sparked concerns as to their worth as a safety feature on narrow roads and there has also been suggestions that they have made some stretches of road more dangerous.

The Nationals Member for Lowan, Emma Kealy MP has been inundated with complaints from local residents deeply concerned about the rollout of centre line rumble strips on narrow and crumbling country roads.

Ms Kealy raised the matter in Parliament this week, asking the Minister for Roads to immediately halt the rollout of centre line rumble strips until a full investigation into their use and where they are being installed has taken place.

"Local residents have told me that trucks are being forced to drive up the centre of the Borung Highway between Dimboola and Warracknabeal because the sides of the road are so badly damaged trucks simply don't fit between the crumbling edges and the rumble strips in the centre of the road," Ms Kealy said.

"I have also heard reports of rumble strips flying off the road when struck by a vehicle, resulting in damage to other vehicles."

Despite the work only being carried out over the last few months, some extended sections of road have already lost all of the rumble strip material, such as the 50 metre long segment pictured above on the road north of Dimboola. This has created concerns as to the damage that could be caused by the material once it has been dislodged.

"Only a road safety initiative of Daniel Andrews would force heavy vehicles either dangerously off the road or needing to drive up the centre of a road,"Ms Kealy said.


"A better option would be to fix the road but this solution seems to be totally lost on Labor.

"The Minister for Roads must immediately halt the rollout of centre line rumble strips until a full investigation into the risk of their use on narrow country roads takes place.

"It is exasperating to watch the out-of-touch Andrews Government spending millions of taxpayer dollars on a botched rollout of centre line rumble strips when our roads are in desperate need of maintenance and repair."



Above - Trucks straddling the rumble strips on the Borung Highway between Dimboola and Warracknabeal due to the road being too narrow to safely travel between the centre strips and the edge of the bitumen. - Emma Kealy photo