Regional Victoria’s worst roads confirmed in Coalition poll

Regional Victoria has some thoroughly bad thoroughfares and now a top ten list has quantified the roadwork quagmire.

Victoria’s vexed vehicular verdict is in, with the Great Alpine Road slammed for being ‘great’ in name only.

The 300 kilometre tourist trail, linking Bairnsdale to Wangaratta and slicing through the Great Dividing Range, will be announced today as Garden State’s worst road.

Thousands of motorists voted in an online poll organised by the Victorian Coalition, with the Princes Highway placed second and Melbourne-Lancefield Road in third position on the bad roads league table.

Opposition roads spokesman Danny O’Brien said the poll results would be forwarded to State Roads Minister Ben Carroll.

“People aren’t just frustrated about the lack of funding for regional roads, although that’s a big part of the problem,” the Gippsland South MP said.

“The quality of the road maintenance is also a big concern. We’re seeing work by VicRoads, or by contractors done one week and then a fortnight or month later, the road surface is potholed and you’re back to square one.”

Gippsland South MP Danny O'Brien along the Sale-Toonagabbie Road.

Rounding off the top five were some Gippsland shockers to the shock absorbers with Traralgon-Maffra Road placed at four and Paynesville Road in fifth position.

Cutting through the Western District, the Woolsthorpe-Heywood Road was placed sixth, Heathcote-Nagambie Road in central Victoria at seven, while various locations along the Murray Valley Highway and Western Freeway placed the links eighth and ninth respectively.

Jerusalem Creek Road, which meanders through countryside near Lake Eildon, scraped into the top 10 as judged by online respondents.

In June, spokeswoman for Mr Carroll said nearly $755 million had been invested in maintaining Victorian roads during the 2021-22 financial year.

She said more than 1100 projects across regional Victoria had been bankrolled as part of the Andrews Government’s road maintenance blitz.