The Victorian government has promised to double the number of potholes it fixes this year — from the 250,000 it had already committed to, to 500,000 by the end of January. The blitz will cost $352 million, on top of the more than $1 billion already budgeted for road maintenance.
The money has to come from somewhere, and the somewhere is Melbourne's south-east: the government says the extra spending will be partly funded by delaying the completion of three level crossing removals — at Highett Rd and Wickham Rd in Highett, and Latrobe St in Mentone — by one year.
"The condition of our roads is not good enough," Premier Ben Carroll said, calling the spending justified given the extent of the problem. "This is absolutely where Victorians want to see their money spent — it is my priority." And, reprising a line that is fast becoming his signature: "I respect your money and I have made commonsense decisions to show how we can afford it."
Where the crews are going
Work starts over the coming weeks as the rain eases, and continues into early next year. Crews will target key arterial roads across the state — the Geelong Ring Road, Western Highway, Calder Highway and Princes Highway among them — plus regional roads, where the ABC notes the issue is becoming a significant election concern.
The backdrop makes the urgency legible. Some regional Victorians have complained of spending their registration rebates on tyres blown by potholes, and earlier this month dozens of cars were forced off the Princes Freeway at Bunyip after large potholes opened up in the road.
"A con job", says the opposition
The Coalition, which last month promised $5 billion over four years for road maintenance under Opposition Leader Jess Wilson, was unimpressed. Shadow Roads Minister Danny O'Brien called the announcement "a con job".
"Ben Carroll was Roads minister when $214 million was cut from road maintenance over two years," Mr O'Brien said — his figures, laid squarely at the Premier's old portfolio. "Now on the eve of an election, he expects Victorians to believe he will fix the roads, after 12 years of ignoring them? Labor has never fixed more than 200,000 potholes in a year and now wants us to believe they'll fix half a million in six months? Spare me."
The scepticism writes its own test. The pledge comes with a number and a date — 500,000 by the end of January — and the state election falls on the way there, in November. Whichever way the count lands, Victorians will be driving over the evidence.
