Mr Mulder, the Member for Polwarth, said the road was an ongoing concern and called on Minister for Roads and Road Safety Luke Donnellan to give upgrades the green light.

“Foxhow Road attracts a high volume of heavy vehicles, yet the road is only four metres wide in some sections,” Mr Mulder said in Parliament.

“An upgrade of Foxhow Road was costed by VicRoads in 2014 and the former Treasurer, the member for Malvern, allocated an extra $130 million in the forward estimates for road restoration and maintenance. All that is needed to get the road fixed is the go-ahead from the minister.”

However, a spokesperson for Mr Donnellan said Mr Mulder’s comments were hypocritical.

“Terry Mulder is all talk and no action. He did not commit to upgrading Foxhow Road when he was the Minister for Roads,” they said. “Maintenance work on Foxhow Road is continuing and VicRoads will continue to monitor the condition of the road, and funding for improvements will be considered as part of future projects.”

The stoush comes after VicRoads regional director Mark Koliba this week urged motorists to seek an alternative route.

“We recommend the use of the Princes Highway as the primary arterial route through south-western Victoria and the use of the Colac-Ballarat Road to cross to the Hamilton Highway,” he said. 

Corangamite Shire councillor Ruth Gstrein labelled the advice disappointing and impractical.

“I’m very disappointed that VicRoad’s answer to the problem is that it shouldn’t be driven on,” she said. 

“You can’t solve this issue by putting your head in the sand.

“The road is in a shocking condition and it’s still seeing a lot of big trucks using it.”

Cr Gstrein, who drives on Foxhow Road at least once a week, said duplication works on the Princes Highway had increased traffic on the road and a serious funding commitment was needed to make it safe.

“People in the country shouldn’t be treated like second class citizens and our roads should be safe to drive on,” she said.

“It’s the responsibility of VicRoads to make sure it’s in a drivable condition. The narrower sections are deteriorating really badly and the rest of the seal is just breaking up.”

Corangamite Shire director of works and services Alex Green said VicRoads’ comments were unprecedented.

"This is the first time I've seen VicRoads advise people to specifically not use an arterial road,” he said.

"It's an important link for people from Camperdown getting to Melbourne and I understand a lot of Warrnambool people use the road as well.”

Corangamite Shire has a contract with VicRoads to maintain Foxhow Road to a set standard, however, there is a clause in the contract excusing the shire if the road’s underlying condition means this standard cannot be met.

"We've only evoked that clause once and that's with the Foxhow Road,” Mr Green said.

"The issue is that maintenance basically looks after the top of the seal not the underlying surface. What's really needed is a real renewal of the pavement.”