‘Nothing short of a disgrace’: Potholes abound as road maintenance falls by the wayside

Excerpts from [article](https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/nothing-short-of-a-disgrace-potholes-abound-as-road-maintenance-falls-by-the-wayside-20260526-p600rr.html) by Gemma Grant:

*A north-east Melbourne council has identified more than a thousand defects across its state-owned road network and is blaming the Department of Transport for the dangerous – and deteriorating – conditions.*

*A recent report by the City of Whittlesea found 1302 issues across its 206 kilometres of government-managed roads, following two major council audits in the past eight months.*

*The most common defects include potholes, damaged guard rails, missing or damaged signs, dumped rubbish and roadkill. Other issues include overgrown vegetation and drainage problems.*

*Whittlesea Mayor Lawrie Cox said the condition of state arterials in the community was “nothing short of a disgrace”. Despite advocacy to local parliamentarians, he said that problems were still rife across the municipality.*

*“Councils can’t afford to pick up slack. It’s a cost-shifting argument … We’re not going to be spending ratepayers’ money on something that they’ve already paid taxes to cover,” Cox said.*

*From the late 1990s until 2023, council staff were contracted by the Department of Transport and planning to maintain local state-owned roads. But three years ago, the department moved to an alternative contractor to secure cheaper services.*

*[…] Cox said that maintenance regularity dropped from about every eight weeks to every six months following the change in provider.*

*“We do a lot more regular maintenance on our roads that we control. We’re not saying we’re perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but we do it a hell of a lot better,” Cox said.*