As the shadow roads and road safety minister, the issue of road quality was at the top of his agenda.
Mr O’Brien said the issue had become “widespread”, and was no longer affecting only regional parts of the state.
“The best way to start a fight in regional Victoria is to claim that your roads are worse than everyone else’s,” he said.
“But it’s not just regional roads any more.
“Over the last two years, I’ve heard a lot of complaints, even from Melbourne, on freeways and major roads down there.
“There’s many that are in really poor condition.”
Ms O’Keeffe agreed, saying it was the number one issue that came through her office.
Mr O’Brien said the roads had suffered “disastrous deterioration”, and the repairs weren’t sustainable.
“I think too often we’re seeing roads built or repaired, and within weeks or months they’re breaking up again,” he said.
“They patch the pothole, but then you end up with a patch. Patch upon patch.
“The road surface itself becomes so disjointed and can become a safety risk.”
He said although it wasn’t the leading cause of fatalities, road quality was starting to become a more serious issue for Victorians.
“It’s not all to do with the state of the roads, but there’s no question the state of the roads is starting to have an impact on that,” Mr O’Brien said.
Mr O’Brien said the government hadn’t been able to answer his questions about money being spent on rehabilitation and resurfacing of roads in parliament.
“They’re making all sorts of claims about record spending on the roads, but they really can’t even tell us where they’re spending it,” he said.
“Victorians know the reality of our pothole-riddled road network.
“We can see the lack of investment in the state of our roads.”
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