South west councils welcome road works, but major priorities remain overlooked

SouthWest Victoria Alliance (SWVA) has welcomed the Victorian Government’s 2026/27 Roads Maintenance Program but says significant gaps remain across south west Victoria’s road network.

SWVA Chair Cr Dennis Heslin said any investment in regional roads was positive, but many of the roads causing the greatest concern for communities were not reflected in the announced program.

“We welcome any investment in south west roads because our communities desperately need it. Communities want to see road crews on the ground and works being delivered.”

“However, when you look across the region, it’s difficult to argue that the roads highlighted in the program are the roads causing the greatest concern for our local communities.”

SWVA noted that several south west councils appeared to receive little or no investment through key elements of the program, despite ongoing concerns about the condition of major state-managed roads across the region.

The Alliance said the Program’s release comes at a time when independent reports are increasingly highlighting the condition of Victoria’s regional road network. RACV’s 2026 My Country Road survey ranked the Princes Highway West between Colac and Camperdown as the most dangerous regional road in Victoria, while the section between Portland and Port Fairy ranked second. The Victorian Auditor-General has also found that roads across the state are deteriorating faster than they can be repaired.

“Those findings mirror exactly what councils and communities across south west Victoria have been saying for years.”

“Councils, freight operators and residents continue to raise serious concerns about a number of key state-managed roads that don’t appear to feature in the works program. From our perspective, there are some significant priorities that have been overlooked.”

While welcoming the announced works, SWVA said they should be viewed as only part of the solution.

“This Roads Maintenance Program is welcome, but it doesn’t change the fact that there remains a substantial backlog of road rehabilitation and reconstruction works across the south west.”

“Regional Victorians don’t expect perfection, but they do expect the roads they rely on every day to be safe, reliable and properly maintained. There’s still a long way to go before we can say we’ve achieved that.”

SWVA said it would continue advocating for increased investment in both state-managed and local roads to support community safety, freight productivity, tourism and regional economic growth.