The “announcement” last night of new roadside stopping areas on the Princes Highway by Minister Pulford appears to be the re-announcement of a commitment secured in early June by Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull.

“Having driven the highway with Regional Roads Victoria staff on June 7, I was given commitments for:

• No side barriers to be installed on approximately 25 kilometres of road eastbound (where they were planned to go) allowing cars and trucks to get off the road when they pull over;

• More truck and car pull over areas to be installed where there are side road barriers;

• Increased visibility at driveways and intersections by removing some barriers already installed adjacent to these areas; and

• The old ripple strips that cause vibrations to be fixed,” said Mr Bull.

“This was outlined in a media release issued from my office back on June 7.

“Unfortunately the ripple strips and hazardous intersections still remain, but as far as the pull over areas are concerned, these were demanded by the public and agreed to by the Department some ten weeks ago following my meeting,” said Mr Bull.

“We even identified a couple of locations where roadside barriers could possibly go as we drove along.

“The Andrews Labor government is quite good at re-announcing things to give the impression it is listening and this appears to be another case of that occurring.”

Caption: Gippsland East Nationals MP Tim Bull in discussions with Regional Roads Victoria representatives on June 7 when additional roadside stopping areas were agreed and announced as well as other remedial works.