Community
17 September, 2025
South west roads “not good enough”
DRIVERS have to hold on tight when passing through Glenfyne on the Cobden-Warrnambool Road, because one particular pothole is deep enough to fit a tennis ball.
According to one Cobden resident, potholes on south west roads are only going to get bigger.
With community safety as his number one concern, Owen Chivell said the roads in the region were “not fit to drive on”.
“The state roads are by far the worst,” he said.
“Rural roads in general aren’t great but the shire roads are better than the state roads, in my opinion.
“The state roads, when they’re reconstructed, they privatise the construction of the roads.
“They seem to be doing a really fast job.
“This section where the potholes are is one of the newer sections of the road and they’re failing. The roads are failing.”
Mr Chivell said he believed the roads were only going to get “worse and worse” as time went on.
“The genuine lack of any preventative maintenance is not up to scratch,” he said.
“I drive these local roads every day in my truck and this is getting very bad and I think it’s getting worse.
“The shoulders of the roads in general are higher than the edge of the roads, so the water can’t get off.
“The water gets held there, that holds moisture and there’s clay-based soil and substructure of the road and that moisture is what does the damage.
“When they rebuild the roads, they don’t dig out the soft clay bits and that’s what they used to do, decades ago, when they built roads really well.”
While road users are encouraged to drive to the conditions and follow road signs, Mr Chivell said the road signs asking drivers to slow down and err on the side of caution were no longer good enough.
“The speed signs have been overused,” he said.
“The 40 kmph and 60kmph signs they have seem to sit on sections of roads for around two years and that’s not good enough.
“In my observations the motorists don’t obey the speed signs and what that does is it trains the motorists not to obey any of the speed signs when road works do come up.
“They see it every day so people don’t take enough notice.”
As an owner of his own transport business, Mr Chivell said he was concerned about his employee’s safety as well as the safety of all road users.
He said he believed Cobden-Warrnambool road was never designed to receive as much traffic as it does, which meant something had to change.
“It’s dangerous to the community and it’s just not good enough,” Mr Chivell said.
“The traffic on the Cobden-Warrnambool Road has increased significantly the past few years.
“The road is probably not designed to have as much traffic as it does have, so that’s a problem as well.”
In response to questions from Western District Newspapers, Michael Bailey, executive director Barwon South West and Grampians Department of Transport and Planning encouraged all road users to remain vigilant.
“We’re aware of the potholes at this location and we will deliver repair works in the coming weeks,” he said.
“We encourage all drivers and community to report any concerns about the road network by calling 13 11 70.”