Victoria's roads are worsening, with recent data showing a significant drop in road resurfacing funds, hitting a five-year low.
The figures, presented in state parliament, show a sharp drop in funds for resurfacing and resealing contracts for the 2023-24 financial year.
The budget has shrunk to just 18 per cent of last year’s, falling from $201.4 million to only $37.6 million across the state.
State Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland, has voiced her worries about the substantial cut in basic maintenance funding.
She warns the cut will lead to even worse roads, creating future problems for Victorians.
“These figures highlight the drastic budget cuts that have seen our roads deteriorate dramatically over the past few years,” Ms Cleeland said.
“We’ve gotten to a point where the government’s own survey last year revealed 91 per cent of roads were in poor or very poor condition.
“Instead of working to resolve this issue, Labor’s dramatic reduction in road resurfacing and re-sealing work will lead to even worse roads in the coming years.”
A Victorian Government spokesperson said repeated flooding and above-average rainfall caused unprecedented damage to the roads, meaning they needed to pause resurfacing and focus on rebuilding and strengthening damaged roads.
“Now this work is complete, resurfacing levels will significantly increase during the upcoming maintenance season,” the spokesperson said.
“We’ll continue this important work investing $964 million into maintaining our roads in this year alone, far exceeding the yearly average of $493 million under the previous Liberal National Government.”
Concerns about road conditions have been ongoing, leading to nearly 1200 property damage claims last financial year.
In March this year, it was revealed that at least 480 regional roads had speed limit reductions or driver warnings due to their poor state.
“Concerned motorists continue to inform me of troublesome roads nearly every day,” Ms Cleeland said.