According to Ms Cleeland, state budget papers show a two-thirds drop in the area of roads subject to resurfacing and rehabilitation.
She said that in 2022, nine million square metres of roads were subjected to resurfacing and rehabilitation, but in 2024, the number had dropped to three million sq m.
She added that the roads maintenance budget had been cut by 16 per cent since 2020, raising fears of increased safety risks and vehicle damage.
Ms Cleeland said her office was regularly contacted by locals concerned about the state of the roads.
“Every week I am contacted by people in our community who have grave concerns about roads in our region,” she said.
“It’s getting to the point where it would be easier to list which roads haven’t been mentioned.
“Despite these concerns, Labor has consistently decreased their road maintenance budget while being happy to blame the potholes and crumbling roadsides on bad weather.”
A Victorian Government spokesperson said it would be disingenuous of Ms Cleeland and the Liberal Party to ignore the unprecedented damage repeated flooding and above-average rainfall had caused to roads.
“Simply resurfacing these roads would not have prevented further degradation, we have had to focus on rebuilding them entirely — and now that works to rebuild our most flood-damaged roads is complete, resurfacing levels will significantly increase during the upcoming maintenance season,” the spokesperson said.
“We’ll continue this important work, investing $964 million into maintaining our roads in this year alone — far exceeding the yearly average of $493 million under the previous Liberal-National government.”
According to the Victorian Government, maintenance experts from the Department of Transport and Planning are now finalising a program of works for the upcoming maintenance season, utilising the Victorian budget 2024/25 investment of more than $964 million towards maintaining the state’s road assets.
The government said it was investing $6.6 billion in the maintenance of road assets over 10 years, as part of a multi-year funding approach enabling it to plan long-term and deliver works strategically across the state.
On Thursday, October 3, Ms Cleeland said Regional Roads Victoria had been dismantled and “dumped” by the government.
Regional Roads Victoria was established by the then roads minister in 2018 with a claim that “regional Victorians will get the attention they deserve”.
RRV’s website has now been removed, its call centre number is disconnected, and its Facebook page has gone untouched since last year.
In its place, a new ‘Transport Victoria’ website was launched last month to promote the government’s road and active transport activities.
Ms Cleeland said the news came after a government survey last year found that 91 per cent of roads were in a “poor” or “very poor” state.
“Seeing the potholes, crumbling roadsides, and collapsed wire barriers across our road network has made it clear how little this Labor government cares for our roads,” she said.
“Regional Roads Victoria was touted as a dedicated agency that would give our communities roads that we could rely on but is obvious now that it was all talk.
“There has been a steady erosion of road funding by the Allan Labor Government that has crippled the capacity to carry out full-depth repairs, and even basic waterproofing, and left our roads in an unacceptable state of disrepair.
“Now, the potholes have become so severe that instead of driving on the left side of the road, regional Victorians are forced to drive on what is left of the road.”
Ms Cleeland emphasised that adequate funding for road resurfacing and rehabilitation projects could significantly reduce the impact of extreme weather events, ensuring more resilient and safer roads for the community.
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