Region's roads 'shocking' says departing Nationals deputy leader

Ms Ryan, who announced she will step down at the next state election, visited the region last week.

She described the condition of south west roads as "shocking".

"(Member for South West Coast) Roma (Britnell) has been raising it since she was elected but you can see there has been a huge deterioration here," she said.

"Statewide the roads are bad, but they are particularly bad here, that's for sure."

Ms Ryan said she spoke to a number of south-west business owners about roads.

"We heard from a number of companies who said the maintenance they have to do on heavy vehicles has increased as a poor condition of the roads," she said.

Ms Ryan said consumers would ultimately be the ones who would suffer because companies would be forced to increase prices.

"It will be the consumer who ends up wearing that extra cost," she said.

Ms Ryan said she also spoke to south-west residents who were concerned a reduction in speed limits on some roads may be the state government's solution.

She said the state government had said it would review roads and consider speed limit reductions.

"The reality is you would struggle to find a road that is safe at the moment and the last thing people need are permanent speed reductions," she said.

Ms Ryan said that would result in declining profitability for companies and a spike in driver fatigue. She encouraged people to nominate the state's worst road.

"This campaign is every Victorian driver's opportunity to contribute to saving lives in a year when the road toll is alarmingly high," Ms Ryan said.

"Rough, pot-holed roads are putting Victorian lives at risk every day but the truth is this risk could be avoided if the Andrews Labor Government chose to properly invest in maintaining safe roads.

"But Labor's deep cuts to road maintenance mean our roads are littered with rough potholes and crumbling road shoulders that, in some instances, have left the road so narrow it's impossible to safely overtake another car - let alone a truck."

A state government spokesperson responded, saying there was no plans for blanket 80km/h speed reductions on arterial country roads.

"The facts are clear, we are investing more than ever before in the state's roads - keeping Victorians moving and providing safer and more reliable journeys, unlike the Victorian Liberal Nationals who leave behind a legacy of cuts and closures," they said.

"Victorians know that only Labor delivers the upgrades Victoria needs."

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