RACV has painted a bleak picture of Victoria’s roads, casting doubts on the current state of road maintenance and investment.
In its My Country Road 2024 report, drawing on findings from over 7000 respondents, RACV has ranked the Goulburn Valley Hwy, from Nagambie to Shepparton, as the fourth most concerning in Victoria.
It cites potholes, poor road conditions and intersection safety as key issues.
These findings echo long-standing grievances from local communities and officials, including state Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell, about the deterioration of Victorian roads.
Ms Lovell has been a vocal critic of the current conditions, describing the roads as “riddled with potholes, ripples, cracking and unsafe intersections”.
According to Ms Lovell, a recent government survey found 91 per cent of Victorian roads were rated as poor or very poor, and almost 2000 Victorians had filed claims for vehicle damage caused by poor road conditions over the past three years.
She has accused the Labor party of overlooking regional Victoria and failing to invest in necessary road and infrastructure projects, particularly the inadequate spending on road resurfacing.
In June, Victorian Roads Minister Melissa Horne disclosed to parliament that the budget for road resurfacing had been significantly cut from $201.4 million in 2022-23 to $37.6 million for 2023-24.
Victorian road users have long complained that their commute is unsafe, and the drop in funding has heightened concerns.
However, Ms Horne defended the government’s approach, claiming a shift in focus towards more comprehensive efforts rather than simply resurfacing.
“Due to the extreme level of damage to the road network caused by recent years’ unprecedented storm and flooding events, rebuilding and strengthening our roads from the ground up is the major target of our current maintenance program,” she said.