Maintenance

February 2024

In the wake of floods and extreme rainfall which have lashed the state since Christmas 2023, we're delivering a massive flood recovery program on Victoria’s most badly-damaged roads.

Funding for these emergency road repairs comes on top of the $770 million committed to delivering other major road maintenance works across Victoria as part of an unprecedented $6.6 billion, 10-year investment.

These major roads and others will be targeted in the latest round of emergency flood recovery:

Loddon Mallee: Bendigo-Redesdale Road at Banfield Bridge

Hume: Whittlesea-Yea Road, south of Forest Road, Flowerdale

Gippsland: A landslip on Hyland Highway, between Grand Ridge Road and Campbells Road, Carrajung

Works set to be delivered under the package include fully rebuilding some of the most badly-damaged sections of road, major asphalting, landslip stabilisation, repairs to damaged structures and road shoulders, clearing of roadside drains and culverts and replacing signs, safety barriers and other important roadside assets.

Crews will also carry out additional roadside mowing and slashing to reduce the risk of bushfires posed by unseasonal accelerated vegetation growth.

Four separate flood events have hit Victoria since Christmas 2023, forcing the closure of more than 100 of the state’s arterial roads at their peak.
Since then, additional resources have been deployed across the state to deliver short-term emergency repairs and get all of these roads re-opened.

Background

Victoria’s road network is the lifeblood of communities, getting people and goods to where they need to go when they need to get there.

We know that roads play a particularly important role in regional and rural Victoria – they provide connections that our regional communities rely on each day.

Maintenance is vital for keeping the Victorian road network running smoothly and making sure road users can all move about efficiently.

The Victorian Government is delivering a new multi-year funding approach to road maintenance. This will enable Victoria to have a long-term road maintenance program and deliver works strategically across the state.

An extra $2.8 billion is being invested into maintaining Victoria’s roads over the next 10 years. This means that a minimum of $6.6 billion will be spent on road maintenance over the next decade.

Thanks to this investment, $770 million will be spent on road maintenance in the 2023-24 financial year. Road repairs following recent flooding is included in this financial year’s maintenance investment.

We’ve seen almost unprecedented levels of rainfall across Victoria in the past two years. Both 2021 and 2022 have been among the wettest in Victoria’s history, with record rainfalls impacting many areas of the state. More than 25 areas across the state received record high annual rainfall, while another 83 recorded their highest annual rainfall in 20 years.

When we have extended periods of above average rainfall like this, damage to our roads is inevitable. This is caused by water inundating the road surface and seeping into the road base, which then becomes unstable as traffic drives over the area, causing the road surface to crack and sink.

We know the state of Victoria’s roads continues to be a frustration for road users. The October 2022 floods had a significant impact on the condition of roads across the state, which has meant that we’ve had to reassess and reprioritise the way we deliver routine maintenance.

Potholes are continuing to open up after the major flooding incidents and increased rainfall, and these repairs will need to be our priority this maintenance season.

Major patching work will be a significant part of this year’s program. We’re prioritising these works on our most badly flood-damaged roads, as well as critical freight and travel routes, ensuring people and goods can stay on the move across Victoria.

What do these works mean for you?

The majority of 2023-24 maintenance work carried out when the warmer, dryer weather provides more suitable conditions for roadworks.

For us to safely deliver these vital repairs, we need all road users to drive to the road condition and travel responsibly through work sites to help keep all road users, road workers, yourself and your passengers safe.

Even after hours and over the weekends, when our crews are not on site, speed reductions and road signs will remain to ensure road users are aware of upcoming hazards on the work zone.

To plan your trip during the maintenance season, go VicTraffic to learn about roadworks, hazards and disruptions.

Vegetation management

As part of the 2023-24 maintenance season, we will be carrying out a vegetation management program across the Victorian road network.

Roadside vegetation management is an important part of keeping our roads safe for all users, as well as managing bushfire risks.

In this year’s vegetation management program, we’ve committed $7.5 million to mow and slash roadside grass across regional Victoria over the coming months.

DTP works closely with emergency services, including the Country Fire Authority (CFA), Victoria Police, Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) and councils to co-ordinate and prioritise vegetation management efforts in the highest risk areas.

To meet Road Management Plan 2021 obligations, we will be conducting the following vegetation management activities:

• Garden bed maintenance when it impedes sight distance
• Areas of noxious weeds will be identified with the help of local councils and other government agencies
• Roadside rubbish will be removed when it poses a risk to motorists
• Graffiti will be removed when the graffiti is offensive, and in instances when it poses a risk to road safety
• Roadside infrastructure, like safety barriers and safety signs, will be repaired when found in critical areas and are ineffective.

Roads we maintain

We’re responsible for managing over 19,000kms of major roads and more than 4000 bridges across our regional road network, including:

• regional freeways
• arterial roads across the state
• a limited number of non-arterial roads

For a full list, see the Map of DTP roads web page.

Get in touch

If you see any hazards on our roads, please report them to our hotline 13 11 70. This hotline is available 24/7.

In an emergency, call Triple Zero (000)

For more information phone: 133 778