A double announcement from the state government has laid out plans to fix Victorian roads, centred around pothole funding and the use of prison inmates for roadworks.
Announcement one: On Sunday, the Labor government announced a plan to double the amount of potholes being repaired, through a $352 million increase to the road maintenance budget.
The investment will aim to fix 500,000 potholes across the state this year - double last year's target - with crews prioritising the Western Highway, Calder Highway and Princes Highway from September.
Regions prioritised: The funding comes from delaying three level crossing removals in Melbourne's southeast by 12 months, one in Mentone and two in Highett.
What they said: Juliana Addison, the Member for Wendouree, told the Brolga the state was “literally taking money from metropolitan Melbourne to address issues in the region”.
As a regional MP she said she is “very supportive” of the proposal.
Announcement two: On Monday, Premier Ben Carroll visited Ballarat to announce Labor’s larger plan for roads should the government retain power following the state election in November.
It involves utilising the state’s prison inmates.
Put to work: The state would collaborate with Corrections Victoria on a scheme where minimum-security prisoners would perform “basic” road maintenance as part of an outdoor manual labour program.
The Premier also announced a dedicated website for reporting road issues.
Opposition response: Shadow Roads Minister Danny O’Brien told the ABC the decision from Labor to use prisoners for road repair was “no surprise, because the government’s handling of road maintenance has been absolutely criminal”.
In July, the opposition announced its plan to invest $5 billion in repairing the state’s roads. This included $1 million for pothole repair.
Word from the top: Addison expressed doubts a Liberal government under leader Jess Wilson would be able to follow through on their plans.
“The last time the Coalition were in power in 2010, they cut road maintenance,” she said.
“Jess Wilson announced $40 billion in cuts on Sky News. I don’t know how you’re going to deliver funding for roads if you’re cutting $40 billion out of the budget.”
The roads in question: Locals report many stretches of road in Western Victoria being in desperate need of repair.
A portion of the Western Highway, between Ballarat and Stawell, has been labelled “the death stretch”, with more than 170 crashes between 2015 and 2024.
What people said: Many locals have shared stories of expensive damage to vehicles and near-misses.
Newington resident Christian Dymock has had several encounters with neglected roads he says have cost him thousands.
🗣️ “My wife and I were driving home from Melbourne at about 1am, down Cuthberts Road. It was during that flooding, they called it something like ‘once in a century’. It opened up the potholes left, right and centre.”
Dymock drove through a pothole that was 20 centimetres deep, damaging two of his tyres and causing concern about the vehicle’s suspension.
He said he was told by council that until the total cost of the damage crept closer to $1500, he would be completely liable.
“If that happens once, twice, three times, you’re looking at the cost of a secondhand car.”