The RAA Regional Roadshow rolled into the South East last week, which brought out some of the region’s most loyal members.

A Gold 50 event was held at the Mount Gambier City Hall to celebrate those who have been an RAA member for at least 50 years.

The special event attracted more than 150 people and RAA chief executive Nick Reade said it was important to recognise the longstanding RAA members, with the oldest member joining in 1955.

“I think we have got around 20,000 members in the South East region, so a lot of members in total, but obviously not as many that have been with us for 50 years or more,” he said.

“The engagement was fantastic, there were a lot of questions about the roads and the conditions of roads.”

“We have some very passionate members on the topic, they are obviously living and breathing some of those roads that might not be quite up to scratch, potholes, and various other issues,” Mr Reade said.

“We heard about lights and other things as well which are affecting their driving, the effect the heavy trucks are having on the roads.

“That is what we are here for, we are here to listen, we connect with government all the time and we will continue to do that on behalf of our members.”

RAA board president and chairman Peter Siebels said engaging with regional members was important because regional areas experienced unique challenges and opportunities.

“We heard a lot about the disgrace of some of the regional roads, the shape they are in,” he said.

“We pointed out recently to the government in terms of our budget submission there is a $750m deficit in terms of money that needs to be spent getting roads up to scratch.

“I would say that regional roads are out of proportion and not in the shape they should be and that creates a lot of risk for drivers and devastates communities when there are problems.

“Statistically, while there are more regional drivers on regional roads, there are a lot of regional deaths, and that is not acceptable, and it devastates small communities.

“The more we can do to overcome some of those safety issues, the better.”

RAA senior manager safety and infrastructure Charles Mountain and his team also assessed key roads in the region during their visit.

“We did a fairly comprehensive study back in 2019 for the Limestone Coast as part of our Regional Road Assessment Program, so we are keen to see what progress is being made on the key recommendations of that report, but also what still needs to be done,” Mr Mountain said.

“There has been a lot of good work done on some of the key corridors, particularly the Riddoch Highway; but other corridors have received attention too.”

Mr Mountain said they also investigated the Dukes Highway, Wimmera Highway, Frances Road, Princes Highway, the Millicent to Penola road and several intersections around Mount Gambier.

“The road network, particularly for regional areas, is for many the sole form of transport, it is the sole means for freight, agribusiness or residents getting around and for tourism, so it is a critical element on all those levels,” he said.

“It is important the networks are as good and as safe as can be for all those different road uses, they have all got different demands.

“From the operator of B-doubles or road trains on the network, to someone who is bringing a caravan down here on a holiday, they have quite different needs, but nonetheless they all have to be accommodated on the road network.

“So, it is really important that it is as good and as effective as it can be, that involves not just the Department of Transport for government roads, but also the respective local governments who are responsible for their own parts of the road network as well.”

Peter Snook from Beachport, who has been an RAA member since 1968, shared an experience where he required the RAA.

“I needed the RAA desperately because I broke down about 150km north of Port Augusta,” he said.

“They sent a truck out to retrieve us and put us up for the night.

“We had a loan car who came back down to Beachport again which was mostly appreciated, the fuel pump on my Nissan Patrol packed it in and we were going to be stranded for a while.

“Thank goodness for the RAA.”