RACV hunting for Victoria’s crumbling roads

Greater transparency for regional road funding is needed, the RACV says, as the motoring group searches for the state’s most dangerous roads.

The section of the Glenelg Highway between Coleraine and Casterton (pictured) has long been littered with potholes.

Greater transparency over regional road funding is needed, the RACV says, as the motoring group seeks feedback on Victoria’s most dangerous thoroughfares.

Nearly $1 billion in regional road funding was allocated this week in the 2024-25 state budget, but the state’s resurfacing target of 3.163 million square meters has received criticism.

RACV policy chief James Williams encouraged regional motorists to take part in a statewide survey on the organisation’s website to determine Victoria’s most dangerous roads.

He said the RACV had long called on both the federal and state government to invest in regional road maintenance and upgrades.

“Transparency in road funding and areas of road improvement will be key to tracking the areas where spend and upgrades to regional roads are still required,” Mr Williams said.

He urged Victorians to participate in RACV’s My Country Roads survey, to provide feedback on how safe they felt on roads in regional Victoria.

“We will share the results with all levels of government, so we can work together to improve safety outcomes for Victorians,” he said.

In the RACV’s last statewide survey in 2021, the Princes Highway between Stratford to Bairnsdale topped the list of motorists’ concerns.

Second was the Deans Marsh-Lorne Road, with the Warburton Highway at Woori Yallock in the Yarra Ranges in third spot.

Mr Williams said following the 2021 survey, 16 of the 31 most dangerous roads highlighted in survey have seen infrastructure upgrades and improvements.

He said more than 7000 responses had been registered so far with the survey closing next week on May 14.

Premier Jacinta Allan said the state budget included $964 million to maintain the state’s road network, with extra funding to clean up damage from flooding.

She said a further $62 million was allocated for regional thoroughfare upgrades, with sections of the Princes, Western and Calder highways to be improved.

Opposition roads spokesman Danny O’Brien said: “Labor can’t hide behind flood recovery forever because its spending cuts are seeing Victorians face worse and worse road conditions every day.

“To highlight the failures, Labor has introduced a new budget performance measure of ‘road area patched’ – not fixed, not rebuilt, but ‘patched’. Fixing potholes is not a measure of success, it’s a measure of failure.”