The biggest road maintenance blitz Victoria has ever seen will fix hundreds of regional roads to ease traffic congestion and improve speed-to-market for primary producers.

The Victorian Budget 2018/19 has allocated $941 million to get on with the job of fixing Victoria’s regional road network, saving lives and establishing a dedicated country roads body.

Regional Roads Victoria (RRV) will be a new division of VicRoads, based in Ballarat, with staff in regional centres across the state.

Led by a Chief Regional Roads Officer, RRV will oversee a $333 million boost to road maintenance, with more than 1,000 kilometres of roads to be repaired, resurfaced or rebuilt across the state.

In addition to the record maintenance spend, a $100 million Fixing Country Roads fund will be established to provide grants to rural and regional councils to fix their local roads.

The Victorian Government is continuing to invest in road safety, with a further $229 million to save lives on Victoria’s most high-risk roads through the Towards Zero Road Safety Action Plan, with more new overtaking lanes, rumble strips and intersection upgrades.

The Budget also includes $98 million for planning and pre-construction of new bypasses on the Western Highway at Beaufort and Ararat, as well as $40 million to upgrade the Princes Highway West between Colac and the South Australian border.

Key sections of the Calder Highway, Hamilton Highway and the Kiewa Valley Highway will be upgraded to improve safety, travel times and freight productivity.

Ballarat’s iconic Sturt Street will get a series of intersection upgrades between Pleasant Street and Dyson Drive to reduce congestion and make it safer to access schools, shops and sports grounds.

A new roundabout will be constructed on the Shepparton Alternate Route to improve safety and access for heavy vehicles, part of a $20 million investment to cater for future growth.

“As someone who grew up in country Victoria, I know how important safe and reliable roads are for regional communities,” said Premier, Daniel Andrews.

“This ground-breaking investment will upgrade regional roads right across the state – and for the first time give our regional road network the direct attention it deserves,” he said.

“We’re giving country Victorians safer and more reliable roads – since coming to office we’ve doubled spending on road maintenance and we’re fixing hundreds of regional roads across the state,” said Minister for Roads and Road Safety, Luke Donnellan. “We’re making this record investment and establishing Regional Roads Victoria to reduce congestion, improve safety and support primary producers to get their goods to market.”

The Victorian Transport Association (VTA) has welcomed the $941 million funding allocation in the forthcoming Victorian budget for much-needed maintenance on regional roads.

“The VTA on behalf of its regional members has been advocating for some time for more funding to repair and maintain regional roads,” said VTA CEO, Peter Anderson.

“A safe and efficient regional transport network is essential for road freight operators and the thousands of farmers and small businesses they service throughout Victoria, and we applaud the government for considering the infrastructure needs of regional Victorians through this announcement,” he said.

Anderson has also reiterated the association’s calls for the establishment of a Victorian Freight Authority to advise government on the unique requirements of the transport and logistics industries.

“The VTA has been advocating for policy that supports operators to be successful in business, whether it be new road, rail and port infrastructure to streamline the freight task, or new ways of operating to create efficiencies for various participants in the supply chain,” said Anderson.

“We need a Victorian Freight Authority to provide government with the perspective of the transport industry when it comes to decisions impacting planning and development, roads and infrastructure, user charges, the environment, and other public policy matters,” he said.