Opposition pledges $5 billion to fill a million potholes

Victoria's crumbling roads have become an election battleground, with the Liberals and Nationals promising $5 billion to repair and rebuild them and fill 1 million potholes.

Opposition leader Jess Wilson and State Nationals leader Danny O'Brien announced the plan on Monday, pitching a 25 per cent lift in road maintenance spending over four years.

The state government has rejected the criticism, pointing to a record $1.04 billion for road maintenance in this year's budget, enough it says to remove 200,000 potholes, with 70 per cent of the money going to regional Victoria.

Roads Minister Ros Spence said crews had already repaired 187,000 potholes over the past year and the government was doubling down.

The pledge lands in a region that knows the problem well.

When the Sentinel-Times posted photographs of the potholes on the Wonthaggi to Cape Paterson Road to Facebook last week, readers answered with a map of their own.

They named the single-lane stretch of highway where the road splits for Wonthaggi and San Remo, the Bass Highway between Grantville and Bass, Corinella Road at the Agar Road end, Phillip Island Road, and the turn into McKenzie Street at the Wonthaggi golf course.

One reader said a 3km section of the Grantville-Glen Alvie Road beyond the Kernot turn off had been completely remade and was already falling to bits.

Another said he had spent $1330 on new tyres and could not claim the damage because it fell below the compensation threshold.

Several described swerving to avoid craters, and one said learner drivers doing the same on the South Gippsland Highway were an accident waiting to happen.

Under the Coalition plan, a new division called Better Roads Victoria would be set up inside the Department of Transport and Planning to rebuild the engineering expertise the parties say was lost when Labor wound up VicRoads and Regional Roads Victoria.

The plan also promises more roadside maintenance such as grass slashing, graffiti removal and drain clearance, and a review of construction standards and maintenance contracts.

Mr O'Brien said fixing the roads would be a top priority for a Liberals and Nationals government.

"Roads have been falling apart all across Victoria and Victorians are fed-up with half-hearted patch up jobs that quickly fall apart," he said.

"Our roads have become goat tracks while Labor has overseen more than $40 billion in major project cost blowouts.

"Under Labor, our regions receive less than 12 per cent of infrastructure spending despite making up 25 per cent of the state's population."

Mr O'Brien said the pledge formed part of a broader commitment to direct a quarter of the state's infrastructure spending to regional Victoria.

Ms Wilson said the state of the roads was a daily reminder of Labor's record and a growing cost-of-living concern for drivers.

"Drivers shouldn't be the ones footing the bill for blown tyres, cracked rims and worse because Jacinta Allan and Labor cannot get the basics right," she said.

"Only my Liberals and Nationals team has a plan to repair and rebuild Victoria's roads, to eliminate one million potholes and deliver a government that works."

The announcement follows a call from the Victorian Farmers Federation for drivers to report every pothole and road hazard as part of a two-week reporting blitz.

VFF president Ryan Milgate said country roads were the worst they had ever been.

"Many are literally falling apart and some are straight-up death traps," he said.

"It's a sobering fact that when driving on country roads, you're five times more likely to lose your life than when driving in the city."

Mr Milgate said budget figures showed targets for regional road resurfacing had fallen by more than 75 per cent, from 11.8 million square metres in 2021-22 to about 2.86 million square metres in 2026-27.

Drivers can report hazards through VicRoads' online reporting system, by calling 13 11 70, or by uploading photos to Snap Send Solve.