General News
16 November, 2025
Road maintenance needs significant reform
Arnold's Carly Noble writes to the Editor about road maintenance
Sir, The current VicRoads road maintenance program, under the Allan Government, is described as highly inadequate.
The Department of Transport’s 2024-2025 report is concerning. Despite a $964 million road maintenance blitz announced in October 2024, only 0.5 million out of the 1033 million square meters of major road works were completed. This achievement represents just 5-6 per cent of Victoria’s total road network.
The program’s effectiveness has been called into question yet again, as the actual work completed falls far short of both the announcement targets and the scale of investment.
There is an implied concern about whether the $964 million spend in delivering value for money, given the low percentage of the network maintained. With only a small fraction of the road network addressed, many roads across Victoria remain in poor condition, potentially affecting transport, safety, and economic value.
The time required to complete each job varies depending on the specific program used. The process typically starts with a road inspector assessing the road damage and entering it into the system. After assessment, the job goes out to tender, often prioritising the lowest bid (cheapest offer).
The tendering process usually lasts about six weeks, after which a panel reviews and awards the contract. The actual start date for work can be before or after the contract is officially awarded, adding further unpredictability.
The scheduling of resurfacing programs depends heavily on contractor availability. This can lead to delays or incomplete work, as seen in 2024, when VicRoads failed to complete resurfacing work on state roads in the central-west district of Victoria.
The process is lengthy and can be delayed at multiple stages, assessment, tendering, and contractor scheduling.
Awarding contracts based on the lowest bid may compromise quality or lead to delays if contractors are overcommitted or under-resourced. There are several examples of incomplete resurfacing issues across our road network over the years, highlighting the system’s shortcomings.
The current road maintenance process in Victoria needs significant reform. There is a strong suggestion that Premier Jacinta Allan has reduced funding for road surfacing programs, likely due to budget constraints, and may further cut allocations in the 2025-2026 program.
This raises an important question about the broader impact on Victorians, specially, what the long-term costs will be in terms of road safety, transport efficiency, and economic value if these funding reductions continue.
Carly Noble
Arnold