A section of the Timboon-Colac Road, near the Simpson Speedway at Jancourt East is heavily damaged, with a deep and wide pothole and broken bitumen.  

Polwarth MP Richard Riordan said the road had been severely neglected, after it was completely rebuilt only three years ago.

There is a 40km/h speed limit in place along a 200 metre section of the road where the damage has occurred. 

“It carries all of the major Great Ocean Road traffic from the 12 Apostles back into the Princes Highway and back to Melbourne,” Mr Riordan said.

“This road is sitting here at this peak busy time of the year with no immediate plans to rectify it.”

Opposition rural roads spokeswoman Roma Britnell said rural roads contributed an “enormous amount to the state economy, through products that were taken to market and tourism”. 

“This damage is an example of what we are seeing right across the state,” she said.

“It is completely unsafe and totally unacceptable.” 

The member for South West Coast said the message to the government was “fix the roads, and do it well once”.

“It’s not good enough,” she said.

“Our roads need to be at a safe standard to provide for our visitors and locals. It’s just not right.” 

VicRoads south-west acting regional director Liam Butcher said the poor state of the road was known to the organisation. 

“We are aware of the condition of this section of Timboon-Colac Road and we’re currently working on plans for long-term repairs, which includes assessing the cause of the pavement failure,” he said. 

“Until that work is complete, we ask drivers to drive with caution and adhere to the temporary 40km/h speed limit through this section of road.”