15/09/2026
My POV: Victoria’s Pothole Crisis Is a Failure of Road Maintenance
Victoria’s deteriorating roads didn’t happen overnight. They are the result of years of decisions about infrastructure funding, road maintenance and priorities.
In 2025, Boral announced closures and changes affecting asphalt operations at key Victorian locations, including Lysterfield, North Geelong and Bendigo. When a major supplier of asphalt scales back its operations because of weak market conditions and reduced demand, it should make Victorians stop and ask a very serious question:
Why has road construction and maintenance activity fallen so dramatically?
The state’s road network is now facing a crisis. Thousands of defects and potholes are being reported across Victoria, while drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists and freight operators are being forced to navigate increasingly dangerous surfaces.
The concern isn't simply about potholes. It's about what happens when routine maintenance is continually deferred.
There is a fundamental difference between maintaining a road properly and repeatedly applying temporary patches to infrastructure that has already reached structural failure. Cold-mix patching is a short-term fix; it cannot substitute indefinitely for properly rebuilding roads that have deteriorated beyond economical repair.
And this is where government accountability matters.
Victoria has undertaken enormous infrastructure projects costing billions of dollars, while the condition of existing infrastructure has continued to deteriorate.
Auditors have warned that substantially more funding is required simply to prevent the road network from continuing to decline; those warnings cannot be ignored. During the peak of the road funding crisis between January 2025 and June 2026, Victoria recorded an astonishing 118,391 state-managed potholes.
Victorians deserve answers.
Where did the road-maintenance money go?
OK Well we can answer this one - Diverting Funds to Massive Big City OverrunsThe government faced massive, multibillion-dollar budget blowouts on major Melbourne mega-projects (such as the West Gate Tunnel and Metro Tunnel) and compensation costs from cancelling the Commonwealth Games. To offset these soaring expenses and manage a surging state debt, the government cut regional and local infrastructure budgets—including slashing the road resurfacing budget from $150 million to just $30 million.
Why are taxpayers repeatedly paying for emergency repairs instead of properly addressing structural failures before they become more expensive?
And most importantly:
How many more people have to suffer vehicle damage, serious injuries or DEATH before this is treated as the infrastructure emergency it has become?
It's about accountability.
Governments have a responsibility to maintain the infrastructure that Victorians rely on every day. Road users shouldn't have to dodge potholes like obstacles on an assault course simply because preventative maintenance wasn't adequately funded. We pay Registration Rates Fines Etc
Victoria needs a long-term road-rebuilding strategy—not endless temporary COLD patching.
We need transparent reporting of road conditions, proper preventative maintenance, adequate funding and a clear explanation of how infrastructure priorities are being determined.
Because when roads deteriorate to the point where they become a genuine safety hazard, the question is no longer “How much will it cost to fix them?”
The question becomes:
“How much HAS it cost us SO FAR!! BECAUSE you Didnt ACT ?”
Victorians deserve an answers.. Families need answers- government authorities need to be held accountable.
