Vital country arterials suffer from neglect, disrepair

COUNTRY roads across Victoria have suffered from years of neglect, with authorities now playing catch-up to repair the network and get bush communities moving once more.

COUNTRY roads across Victoria have suffered from years of neglect, with authorities now playing catch-up to repair the network and get bush communities moving once more.

A new division of Vic­Roads, Regional Roads Victoria, has been given the mammoth task of managing 19,000km of roads outside Melbourne and bringing derelict country roads into the 21st century.

But municipalities also face an uphill battle to fund their own repairs as an increasing number of trucks and tourists put pressure on roads that have not been upgraded in decades.

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Metropolitan municipalities on average have about 190 people per kilometre of local road, compared with regional councils, which have an average of 14 people per kilometre.

Rural Councils Victoria chairman Rob Gersch told the Sunday Herald Sun road quality was one of the most common complaints rural councillors received. “One of the problems we have is that funding has been short and only recently have they started to raise it again,” he said.

“Over the past few years we have a much higher number of massive trucks travelling through areas that were never built for that kind of weight and traffic. It is very frustrating … we have farmers who pay a lot in rates and don’t feel they get good value for their dollar.”

In the last financial year, just 96.3 per cent of regional roads met the state’s cracking standard, with roughly 700km of the network yet to be repaired.

Andrew Hedge says the notorious Heathcote-Kyneton Rd near Redesdale is one of many important roads that have fallen into disrepair over the past decade. Picture: Rob Leeson

Another 343km of roads managed by the body are still unsealed, while many dirt and gravel streets are under the jurisdiction of local councils.

RRV chief officer Paul Northey said much of the network outside Melbourne was road built after World War II.

“What we’ve heard is that up until fairly recently the expenditure on regional roads has probably been lacking,” he said.

“Last year it increased significantly and this year we have $941 million committed. That has been welcomed by the community, but they also say that it is a good start.”

One dangerous stretch has been the notorious Heathcote-Kyneton Rd near Redesdale, with crews approaching the end of nearly $4 million in maintenance on the important road.

Kyneton resident Andrew Hedge said the arterial was one of many important roads that had fallen into disrepair over the past decade as traffic volumes have grown.

“That connection has always been really rough and it gets worse when the weather comes along,” he said.

“If you talk with people around the district, the road condition is one of the things that’s on everyone’s mind.

“You get to a point where there’s lots of roads that need patching after the wet season and the repair work could still be months away.”

Roads Minister Luke Donnellan said the state government had doubled spending on maintenance since coming to office.

“We’re delivering the biggest investment in country roads in Victorian history — $941 million to fix and improve safety on the roads we all rely on,” he said.

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