Regional roads: Calls for government to accelerate repairs.

Victoria’s crumbling road network has never been more dangerous, as temporary pothole repairs give way.

THE state’s crumbling regional road network has never been more damaged, as temporary pothole patch-ups are being pounded out by increasing heavy vehicle and holiday traffic.

The parlous situation has prompted the director of a leading regional freight company to call for the Victorian Government to immediately begin its promised bush roads repair blitz.

“It is the worst I have ever seen the roads, the damage and safety risk we are seeing is as high as it has ever been,” said Victorian Freight Specialists director of operations Chris Collins, who has been with the company for 24 years.

“I am dreading this holiday period, with the extra traffic and what we are going to see on the news. Some open roads are not up to safety standards and need major repairs right away.

“Not little fix-up jobs like they are doing – they need to be closed, unearthed and redone. Everyone is under extreme pressure because of the state of the roads.”

As thousands of Melburnians race to the regions for holidays, the re-elected Andrews Government is under growing pressure to fast-forward a repair blitz promised in the last week of the recent state election.

Premier Daniel Andrews promised the work would “be a big feature of 2023”.

Meanwhile, the government’s much-spruiked Melbourne tunnel, level crossing removals and road projects continue as additional metropolitan works began this week, including annual Westgate Bridge maintenance.

Road damage on Leckies road near Miepol, Near Euroa. PICTURE: ZOE PHILLIPS

This is despite Victorian regional councils early last month declaring a roads emergency, with more than 560 roads currently closed across the state.

Potholes, cracked bitumen, broken shoulders and flying debris are being blamed for a spike in damage to vehicles driving on country roads, as two Victorian councils have waited nine months for over $10 million each promised by the federal government for emergency road repairs.

Authorities have filled 92,500 potholes in recent months, which Mr Collins said “are not even patch jobs” in many places.

“In three months there will be another 92,500 potholes. One truck got footage of at least 20 cars lined up on the side of the road with blown tyres from potholes… trying to change tyres on a national highway and our trucks blasting through,” he said.

“There is going to be a serious accident based on our incident reports and seeing footage from trucks around the state.”

VFS run thousands of trucks a week into every nook and cranny of Victoria and, for the first time, is allowing drivers to dictate routes as they refuse to drive certain roads due to safety concerns.

Mr Collins said the company always goes to extremes using technology and systems to ensure peak road safety, but is currently taking long detours “just to make the roads safer for everyone”.

“When you see the government not doing their part it does suck a bit, it sucks a lot to be fair. The government is not providing us a safe workplace and the extra costs are passed on to customers,” he said.

Mr Collins, who spoke publicly to “help support the regions that helped grow and support VFS”, wants a taskforce created to ensure ongoing repairs to national, state and council roads and encouraged the involvement of private enterprise.

Victorian Transport Association chief executive Peter Anderson predicts the roads repair bill will ultimately be well over a billion dollars.

Mr Anderson called for the creation of permanent area crews – with engineers, adequate equipment and materials – assigned to repair and maintain designated roads on an ongoing basis.

“Why is the government waiting until well into 2023 to begin its permanent regional road works? Start today,” he said.

“It is not just potholes, it is what they are not doing. Not clearing chunks of bitumen breaking from roadsides, or putting in new culverts or reinstating bridges at the foundation that were washed away, that trucks are unable to cross.”

Victorian Nationals leader Peter Walsh said collapsing short-term repairs were revealing “very dangerous, brutal holes”.

“A speed restriction sign does not fix a road, the only thing that fixes a road is investment in road maintenance of which the budget has been continually cut over several years,” he said.

“That is why the roads are in the condition they are in. This was an issue before the extreme rains and floods, they may have been made some areas worse, but there are roads in a shocking condition that were not subject to flooding.”

Victorian Nationals leader Peter Walsh. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nicki Connolly

VTA CEO Peter Anderson wants regional road repairs accelerated and permanent crews created to maintain them.