Victorian road conditions “presents a growing risk to public safety”

VICTORIA'S current road network is in such poor condition it poses a risk to public safety according to an audit released by the state’s Auditor-General.

The audit revealed that since 2010 there has been an increase in cracking and roughness of roads, resulting in more dangerous driving conditions for motorists.

"The increasing proportion of the state road network in very poor condition presents a growing risk to public safety and increases road user costs," Auditor-General Andrews Greaves wrote.

The Auditor-General also stated while there was a lack of government investment in road maintenance, VicRoads wasn’t meeting expectations.

“Not enough funding is allocated to road maintenance to sustain the road network, but VicRoads also cannot demonstrate clearly that it is making the best use of its existing maintenance funds,” Greaves wrote.

"[VicRoads'] approach to road pavement maintenance is reactive, with maintenance generally being carried out only when it becomes critical," Greaves wrote.

“Targeted early intervention to prevent roads from needing more costly and extensive maintenance has been limited. This approach has not kept up with the rate of deterioration of road pavements across the network.”

The audit revealed there are also knock-on economic effects from the deteriorating road network, with increased wear and tear to vehicles posing larger costs for the community.

According to VicRoads, by 2025, more than 80 percent of the state’s roads will be in "poor" or "very poor" condition, unless investment in maintenance is increased.

Currently 10 percent of Victoria’s roads are rated “very poor” and 30 percent “poor”.

Greaves called for a strategic plan to fix the state’s road problem before it deteriorated further.

“Without a strategic approach to road pavement maintenance, road conditions will continue to deteriorate and VicRoads will find it increasingly harder to maintain the entire network in a functional condition,” he added.

The Age reports VicRoads’ funding has fallen since 2010-11, with maintenance funding slashed by 60 percent. Meanwhile, traffic on the road network has increased by 9.4 percent in the last decade.

VicRoads chief executive John Merritt conceded that maintenance had not kept up with road use but said the auditor-general’s report supports the reform program and actions VicRoads already has in place.

“Much of the 23,000 kilometres of Victoria’s arterial road network was built in the years immediately following World War II. In the 1940s and ’50s a 40-tonne truck was one of the largest vehicles on the road, but today those same roads could be carrying vehicles over 80 tonnes,” Merritt said.

“With Melbourne’s rapid growth and the changing transport needs in regional Victoria to support new and emerging industries, there is much more demand on road infrastructure.

“Our goal is to provide a road network that supports communities now and is able to evolve easily to support the needs of future generations.

“The 2017-18 state Budget funding, which doubles expenditure for road pavement maintenance, was based on recommendations developed by us, using our new pavement management approach.”

Merritt said community input would be regularly sought to influence maintenance priorities.