A major Andrews Labor 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 regional Victoria.
Minister for Roads and Road Safety Ben Carroll said the $780 million investment – which is double the funding of the Liberal National Party when they were last in office – will rebuild, repair and resurface more than 1,500 kilometres of roads across the regions.
An army of workers will spend the next eight months delivering more than 1,300 individual projects across some of Victoria’s busiest and most important transport and travel routes, including the Western Highway, Hume Freeway, Murray Valley Highway, Hamilton Highway and South Gippsland 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.
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 1,800 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 1,500 kilometres of regional roads, adding to the more than 12,000 kilometres of roads rebuilt and resurfaced across Victoria since 2014.
This work is all part of the Labor Government’s ongoing investment in upgrading regional Victoria’s transport network – major projects such as the South Gippsland Highway Upgrade, Barwon Heads Road project, and rail upgrades on the Bendigo and Echuca, Shepparton and Gippsland lines are boosting safety, capacity and efficiency across the state.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Roads and Road Safety Ben Carroll
“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.”
“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.”
Reviewed 07 September 2022