Victorian roads falling apart despite $1 billion boost

The Andrews Government has put more than $1 billion towards maintenance and repair of state roads. But council roads are still falling apart.

The Victorian Government has awarded more than $1 billion over the next five years to maintain state-owned roads in the Barwon Southwest, Hume and Gippsland regions.

Two more contracts were awarded to government-owned Sprayline Road Services to maintain the Loddon-Mallee and Grampians state road network, but details have not been released.

The three publicly available contracts show work covers all aspects of repair and maintenance, including drains and roadside vegetation.

Victorian Roads Minister Melissa Horne’s office said “we’re ensuring we deliver the best value for money for Victorians with our major road maintenance program, by providing a more performance-based road maintenance contract.

“This will help ensure the industry remains competitive and works delivered are more consistent across the state. It also sets out clearer guidelines to help manage risks associated with these projects.”

But while the 23,000km state road network has gained a major injection of funding, Victoria’s shire councils are still struggling to gain the money they need to maintain the 132,000km of local roads under their control.

The Municipal Association of Victoria reports that while some councils are still assessing last year’s flood damage, Gannawarra Shire has already calculated its road repair bill comes to $50m, with neighbouring Campaspe Shire needing $70m.

MAV president David Clark said councils were frustrated by the slow rollout of federal funding, especially restrictions on using their own workers to repair roads.

National flood recovery funding rules demand councils use contractors for road repairs in what Mr Clark said was a bid to “maintain transparency”.

But he said just before Christmas, the then Victorian Roads Minister Ben Carroll, reached a deal to amend the rules allowing councils to use their own “day labour”.

The change means councils can claim back the cost of their own workers doing the hundreds of smaller repair jobs that are dotted along their road networks.