South-west roads are some of the worst in the state, a report from the auditor-general has confirmed.
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The report, based on VicRoads data, tracked changes in road conditions between 2005/2006 to 2015/2016.
The proportion of south-west roads classed as ‘very poor’ increased from nine per cent to 15 per cent during the period, and those labelled ‘poor’ grew from 19 per cent to 21 per cent.
The data also examined cracking, rutting and roughness, and levels of cracking consistently exceeded a target of 25 per cent.
The auditor-general’s report found roads in very poor condition presented a growing risk to public safety, not enough funding was being allocated to maintain the network and a reactive approach by VicRoads meant roads were only being maintained when they were in a critical state.
South West Coast MP Roma Britnell said repair works were taking place too late.
“People have been questioning the quality of work being done,” she said.
“There is one section of the Henty Highway near Portland which has been repaired four times in as many months, this is happening because there is no standard or accountability.
“There are many examples like this across the electorate, it’s a disgraceful waste of money and people have been questioning who is responsible.”
Corangamite Shire mayor Jo Beard said the report backed up what the council had been saying about the condition of arterial roads that were the responsibility of VicRoads.
Cr Beard said the state of south-west roads was “deplorable”.
“We have been putting the pressure on the state government to fund VicRoads adequately, because we know they don’t have money to be doing the work they should be doing,” she said.
“We’ve known that there has been this downward trend – it’s really concerning.
“The type of traffic travelling on the road is only becoming more significant, whether you’re talking about tourists or even the agriculture industry.”
Cr Beard said people blamed council for some road conditions that were not under their control.
“We take a consistent hammering for the roads locally and the majority of them aren’t our responsibility,” she said.
Moyne Shire mayor Jim Doukas said the report showing conditions had gone from bad to worse spoke for itself.
“We’ve been saying this for 10 years and we’ve been telling the government it’s been getting worse year on year,” Cr Doukas said.
“If the government doesn’t do something soon, the whole of rural Victoria will be a basket case.”
