General News
14 September, 2022
Road blitz launched across state
A MAJOR Victorian government investment will help support an annual maintenance blitz on the state’s roads, improving connections to education, employment, family and friends for drivers across south west Victoria.
A MAJOR Victorian government investment will help support an annual maintenance blitz on the state’s roads, improving connections to education, employment, family and friends for drivers across south west Victoria.
The $780 million investment will rebuild, repair and resurface more than 245 kilometres of roads across the state’s south west.
An army of workers will spend the next eight months delivering more than 165 individual projects across some of the region’s busiest and most important transport and travel routes, including the Hamilton Highway, Glenelg Highway and Princes Highway.
The roads set to be targeted under the maintenance blitz have been selected based upon expert inspections and community feedback, ensuring that works are delivered where local drivers need them most.
Right across the state, crews will deliver more than 1300 individual road maintenance projects, patch thousands of potholes and replace and repair 20,000 roadside signs.
This major investment will also ensure other vital parts of the road network are up to scratch, including rebuilding bridges, culverts and retaining walls, and inspecting and maintaining thousands of traffic lights, signs and other structures.
These works will harness the latest technology and methods to ensure that the road maintenance program delivers the best results for all Victorians, while also continuing to support an estimated 1800 jobs right across the state.
An additional $3.2 million of funding will be invested in maintaining regional roadsides, with more mowing, weed spraying and graffiti removal work set to be completed across the network.
The latest blitz comes on the back of the 2021/22 maintenance season which improved more than 1500 kilometres of regional roads, including 165 kilometres across Western Victoria, adding to the more than 12,000 kilometres of roads rebuilt and resurfaced across Victoria since 2014.
Minister for Roads and Road Safety Ben Carroll said since 2014, “we’ve made record investments in upgrading and maintaining the state’s road network”.
“And this work will continue over the next eight months – with a majority of funding spent in regional Victoria,” he said.
“Right across the state, crews will begin repairing and rebuilding the roads that regional Victorians rely on most, connecting people with employment and education opportunities, key freight routes, family and friends.”