The death of a motorcyclist on Victoria’s Western Highway has renewed scrutiny of the state’s deteriorating road network, just weeks after the government announced a major pothole repair program following a series of incidents that damaged dozens of vehicles.

Emergency services were called to the Western Highway at Trawalla, west of Ballarat, shortly before 1pm on Sunday following reports a motorcycle had struck a pothole. The 71-year-old Ballarat rider died at the scene after reportedly losing control near Trawalla Road. Victoria Police is investigating the circumstances and has not yet determined the cause of the crash.

Rear half of a car with exhaust pipes visible, parked beside a large pothole filled with muddy water in a cracked asphalt road surface.
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The incident represents a tragic escalation of an issue highlighted by WhichCar by Wheels last month, when at least 23 vehicles were reportedly damaged by a large pothole on the Princes Freeway near Bunyip and Longwarry. Motorists were left beside the freeway with damaged wheels and tyres after encountering the road damage during wet, low-visibility conditions.

Similar problems were subsequently reported on the Calder Freeway near Gisborne, where several vehicles suffered tyre damage.

In response to growing criticism, the Victorian Government announced an additional $352 million for road repairs in late August, doubling its target from 250,000 to 500,000 pothole repairs. The Western Highway is among the major routes targeted by the program, alongside the Princes and Calder highways and Geelong Ring Road.

However, a Victorian Auditor-General’s Office report released last week has underlined the scale of the problem. It found 48 per cent of Victoria’s more than 23,000km state-controlled road network was in poor or very poor condition, compared with 39 per cent in 2021, describing its overall condition as “deteriorating”.

Premier Ben Carroll acknowledged following Sunday’s fatality that road conditions were “not good enough”, while stressing police investigations into the crash remained ongoing. Carroll said his government would end the outsourcing model introduced in the 1990s and bring road maintenance back under direct government control.

Road maintenance is also emerging as a major issue ahead of Victoria’s November 28 election. The Coalition has promised $5 billion over four years to repair one million potholes and restore preventative road maintenance, while Labor’s existing program includes $1.04 billion announced in June in addition to its latest $352 million package.

The fatal Trawalla incident shifts the debate beyond damaged tyres, wheels and repair bills, placing renewed attention on the potential safety consequences of Victoria’s worsening road surfaces.