MAJOR roads in the Mitchell and Macedon Ranges Shires may become a whole lot less bumpy thanks to a $1.04 billion statewide funding announcement set for the 2026/27 Victorian Budget.
The State Government revealed the commitment last Monday as part of its pre-budget announcements, enough to get rid of 200,000 potholes, 200,000 graffiti tags, and clean up roadside overgrowth.
Premier Jacinta Allan described it as the biggest road blitz in the state’s history, and said most of that money is going to regional Victoria.
The funding will go towards state-managed roads across Victoria and could see works done on the Kilmore-Lancefield Road and Northern Highway, which, among others, have been riddled with potholes for years.
The State Government said specific information about where the roadworks will take place has not yet been determined.
However, the government has announced that major freeways, including the Tullamarine, Calder and Hume Freeways which service the two shires, will benefit from a specific $36.9 million blitz to clean up the roadsides.
“From July 1 when this new funding will kick in, locations for the blitz on freeways will be based on real-time data, in-person inspections and community feedback to direct work where it’s needed most,” a Victorian Government spokesperson told the Review.
Mitchell Shire Council CEO Mary Agostino said the council welcomes the Victorian Government’s investment in road maintenance, particularly the strong focus on regional Victoria.
“Investment of this scale is critical in helping maintain and improve the arterial road network that carries significant traffic through Mitchell Shire and connects our communities,” she said.
In addition to the state funding, the proposed 2026/27 MSC budget has allocated nearly $17 million in capital works towards the roads and bridges that the council services.
The draft budget for the Macedon Ranges shows an $8.7 million allocation for road projects and maintenance in their jurisdiction.
But not everyone is buoyed by the State Government’s announcement. The Victorian Farmers Federation Acting President Peter Star said the funding boost “misses the mark by almost $500 million annually” and doesn’t properly address the growing backlog of road maintenance across regional Victoria.
“Victoria’s regional roads are crumbling and this package is like putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg. What we need is sustained funding that goes towards actually fixing the issue, not merely patching up a worsening problem,” Mr Star said.
