Victoria will spend an extra $352 million to repair 500,000 potholes by the end of January, with the government deferring three level crossing removals to help fund the work.
The program doubles the state’s previous target of 250,000 repairs and adds to the $1.04 billion allocated for road maintenance in the 2026-27 budget.
Crews will concentrate on major arterial routes, including the Geelong Ring Road, Western Highway, Calder Highway and Princes Highway, as well as damaged regional roads.
Work is expected to accelerate as rainfall eases, with most repairs scheduled for the drier months during the second half of the year and into January.
Premier Ben Carroll acknowledged the condition of the network had fallen short of public expectations.
“The condition of our roads is not good enough,” Carroll said.
“This is absolutely where Victorians want to see their money spent – it is my priority.”
The government will defer the removal of level crossings at Highett Road and Wickham Road in Highett and Latrobe Street in Mentone by one year. Their completion is now scheduled for 2033 rather than 2032.
The postponements are expected to reduce expenditure in the budget forward estimates by $112 million. The remaining funding will come from savings identified elsewhere, including $2 billion in changes to the Suburban Rail Loop and $70 million from reduced spending on consultants.
“I respect your money and I have made commonsense decisions to show how we can afford it,” Carroll said.
The decision means residents near the three railway crossings will wait an additional year for projects the government had previously committed to completing by 2032. Labor says it remains committed to removing all 110 crossings in its program, 92 of which have been removed.
Road conditions have emerged as an election issue, particularly in regional Victoria and Melbourne’s outer suburbs, where councils, transport operators and motorists have raised concerns about damaged surfaces and the cost of vehicle repairs.
The Liberal and Nationals opposition has promised to spend $5 billion over four years on road maintenance, including removing one million potholes and restoring preventative maintenance programs. Its proposal amounts to an average of 250,000 pothole repairs a year, although the opposition’s funding would also cover road rebuilding, drainage, roadside maintenance and other works.
Labor has sought to contrast its immediate target with the opposition’s four-year program. Roads and Road Safety Minister Paul Hamer said the government’s commitment would deliver twice the number of annual pothole repairs proposed by its opponents.
“This is twice as many potholes as the Liberals promise to fix in a given year – and far more in reality, because they’ll cut funds,” Hamer said.
The opposition has argued that Victoria’s roads deteriorated after years of inadequate maintenance and says its proposed spending would establish a longer-term repair program rather than relying on periodic funding packages.
The government says the additional money will be available immediately, although the pace of work will depend on weather conditions and the ability of crews to undertake lasting repairs once roads are dry.
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