Community
27 March, 2024
Road frustrations continue to grow
NINETY-ONE per cent of Victorian roads have been classified as “poor or very poor” in a pavement condition assessment undertaken for the State Government, according to Shadow Minister for Roads and Road Safety Danny O’Brien.
In 2023, not a single road in the survey was classified as “good” or “very good”, with the remaining nine per cent only listed as “fair”.
The National Transport Research Organisation (NTRO) conducted the survey for the Department of Transport across 8400 kilometres of the state’s road network.
Mr O’Brien said despite state government excuses about wet seasons, only 707 kilometres of this was rated as flood affected.
The survey was undertaken using the NTRO’s iPAVE technology and was spruiked by the Labor Government in January last year as “world-first”, despite being used by other states for years before-hand.
Mr O’Brien said despite the findings of the research, the Labor Government cut the road maintenance budget by 25 per cent in the current year’s budget.
“This survey just confirms what regional Victorians already know – that the state of our roads are disastrous after years of funding cuts by the Labor Government,” he said.
“To see that 91 per cent of our roads are in poor or very poor condition is an indictment of the government’s performance and that affects every Victorian travelling our roads every day.”
Mr O’Brien said the data shows that the blip of an increase in roads maintenance spending during Covid has now been wiped out and our roads are even worse off now.
“What’s more alarming is that the further 25 per cent cut in the current budget means there is no resurfacing program happening in the state this year – that will only see our road pavements get worse in future years, not better,” he said.
“Labor can’t manage money, can’t manage projects and it’s Victorian motorists who are paying the price.”
However, a Victorian Government spokesperson hit out at Mr O’Brien’s claims.
“It’s not surprising that a survey of flood-affected roads found extensive flood damage, and Danny O’Brien’s statements are just another way the Nationals are deliberately misleading Victorians when it comes to our roads,” the spokesperson said.
“If the Nationals bothered to read the budget papers they would see we’ve invested more than $770 million to road maintenance across the state – that’s equivalent to more than $2 million for every day.
“What were previously considered once-in-a-generation flood evens are now commonplace, bringing record rainfall and inflicting unprecedented damage on our roads, which is why we’re now delivering road maintenance as part of a $6.6 billion, 10-year strategy, allowing us to plan long-term and future-proof regional roads.”
The Cobden Timboon Coast Times understands following the October 2022, the Victorian State Government commissioned the then Australian Roads Research Board (ARRB) to assess 8400 kilometres of flood-impacted roads – less than half of the state’s 23,000 kilometre road network.
As part of the government’s planned maintenance and repair program, crews will be undertaking works right across the Corangamite Shire Council region.