Between now and June 2024, with the winter over and conditions drying up, crews will be carrying out on-road repairs, inspecting and maintaining bridges, traffic lights and signage as well as controlling vegetation on roadsides to minimise bushfire risk on the state’s road corridors.
Most of this work will be delivered in regional Victoria, where flooding and extreme rainfall has caused the most widespread damage – as part of the first phase of a 10-year, $6.6 billion maintenance strategy, this year’s priority will be patching and repairing damage, before future-proofing our roads to make sure they last.
New road maintenance contracts introduced this year will mean the work is done better than ever – delivering better value for Victorians’ money, less disruption while crews get on with the work, and higher-quality road maintenance, where it’s needed most.
It also means more local jobs for hardworking regional Victorians, with more than 360 great local jobs and a huge economic boost to regional communities.
It comes on top of a massive maintenance blitz delivered over the past 12 months, which saw more than 1800 kilometres of the state’s roads undergo rebuilding and repair work, including hundreds of major road rebuilding, resurfacing, and sealing works on the Western, Hume, Calder, Sunraysia and Murray Valley highways.
More than 370,000 potholes have been patched, 21,000 signs repaired or replaced, tens of thousands of kilometres of roadside grass and weeds have been mowed, slashed, and sprayed and more than 290,000 tonnes of snow have been shifted from roads across the state’s Alpine regions.
As stated by Minister for Roads and Road Safety Melissa Horne
“We’ve already made record investments in repairing and maintaining our state’s roads – our new, long-term road maintenance plan will deliver even better-targeted works and improved outcomes for Victorians.”
“We know we are facing a significant and complex repair program after some of the worst floods in our state’s history – that’s why our plan is backed by a long-term funding commitment and data-driven plan to fix our roads.”
As stated by Department of Transport and Planning Chief of Regional Transport Michael Bailey
“Using more data and more technology than ever before our experts have put together a program or works that will repair the worst of last year’s flood damage and deliver smoother, more reliable journeys for hundreds of thousands of Victorians each year.”
