The Victorian Auditor General Office is conducting a review following "concerns from stakeholders that the barriers may not be as effective as the Victorian Government claims, and that they may exacerbate injury for motorcyclists."

Member for Polwarth Richard Riordan said the review would hopefully provide some clarity around the true cost of the road safety measure.

He said hundreds of millions of dollars was being spent on wire rope barriers but there were grave concerns about the lack of cost benefit analysis.

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Mr Riordan said the state government had admitted under intense questioning at the Parliament's Public Accounts and Estimates (PAEC) hearings that funds and resources that would normally be spent on fixing potholes and crumbling road edges was being spent on fixing wire rope barriers.

"After spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the wire rope barrier roll-out over recent years, we have still seen a massive rise in the road toll in 2019," he said.

"I think there are some tough issues and questions that the Auditor General will have to grapple with in this report.

"Questions about road safety priorities and the best value spend on road safety will need to be answered."

"Following robust questions on the wire rope barrier rollout, (Roads Minister Jaala Pulford) revealed this week data showing 1300 collisions with barriers from January 2019 to June 2019, and yet VicRoads have no data on replacement and maintenance costs to taxpayers."

Mr Riordan said the road safety measure was without governance.

"No objective analysis of value to taxpayers and road users is possible at the moment, and hopefully this audit will put some clarity around the true cost of this technology of this road safety measure," he said.

There are more wire rope barriers earmarked for the south-west between Warrnambool and Panmure.

A poll set up last year by The Standard asking readers if they thought wire rope safety barriers saved lives on the road showed close to 48 per cent thought they did, 41 per cent per cent disagreed and 11 per cent were unsure.

A total of 247 people had participated in the poll at the time of publication.

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