Western District MP James Purcell has launched the project, calling on the public to report the south-west’s worst roads.

Mr Purcell said he would gather the information and present it to the state government to highlight the crumbling condition of much of the region’s local network.

"In south-west Victoria our roads are a disgrace. They are pothole ridden, in constant need of upgrade and it is very disappointing that VicRoads' solution is to reduce speed limits on these roads rather than repair them,” he said.

Mr Purcell said VicRoads itself had identified roads in western Victoria were below the standards of other rural areas in the state. VicRoads has estimated it would cost $220 million to bring the local network up to standard. 

Mr Purcell said concerns from residents and south-west leaders were continually ignored.

"For my constituencies this is simply not acceptable. When the 140-turbine Macarthur Wind Farm was built in 2013 one of the major issues presented by ratepayers was the damage to the road network,” he said.

"Constituents are still asking when the Myamyn-Macarthur Road will be upgraded to an acceptable standard and now I am also asking the Minister for Roads when this will occur."

Mr Purcell is urging south-west residents to send in photos and reports of roads that need urgent repairs. They should be sent to james.purcell@parliament.vic.gov.au

It comes after the state government released its Towards Zero policy that lists one of its road strategies as reducing limits on “narrow, lower quality” regional roads across the state.

Angry south-west leaders spoke out against that plan. Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell has described lowering limits as a “cop out” that avoided spending money on much-needed upgrades.

“There is $1.4 billion of funding available for rural roads. That’s made up of $700 million from the lease of the Port of Melbourne and a further $345 from the federal government, if the state matches it,” she said in May.

The Great South Coast Group and Corangamite Shire have also heavily campaigned for better roads in the region.