Potholes and crumbling road surfaces top regional Victoria's road safety concerns

Potholes and deteriorating roads are the biggest road safety concern in regional Victoria, according to the more than 6,000 people which participated in RACV's 2026 My Country Road campaign.

Participants logged 10,048 requests for road improvements over a seven-week period. Road surface conditions and potholes were the number one safety issue for 71 per cent of respondents – an increase from the 64 per cent in the 2024 My Country Road survey.

The top three most dangerous regional roads identified by respondents were:

1. Princes Highway West, Colac to Camperdown
2. Princes Highway West, Portland to Port Fairy
3. Loddon Valley Highway, Bendigo to Kerang.

The campaign short-listed 52 sections of country highways that RACV and the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) identified as high-risk, based on Australian Road Assessment Program (AusRAP) data, crash history and traffic volumes. Respondents had the opportunity to identity issues and solutions with those road sections, or nominate their own road of concern.

My Country Road is RACV's flagship regional road safety advocacy campaign running every second year, alternating with My Melbourne Road.

RACV uses the results to engage with government and advocate for targeted investment in road safety.

RACV Head of Public Policy James Williams said the results send an unmistakable message about where road funding should be directed.

“Victorians have told us that the State’s crumbling road network is what worries them most,” Mr Williams said.

“Seven in 10 of the concerns raised through this campaign came back to potholes and deteriorating surfaces, and almost three-quarters of the fixes people asked for were as simple as resurfacing the road.

“These are maintenance and design problems and they are the same in every corner of the state, from the Princes Highway West in the southwest to the Strzelecki Highway in Gippsland.

“RACV will take these results to government and press for targeted investment in the roads that the Government’s own safety ratings and regional Victorians have identified.”

For the 2026 My Country Road campaign, regional Victoria was divided into five regions (west, northwest, northeast, east and southwest), each with a short-list of roads. Victorians were asked to vote for the roads they believed were most dangerous, identify what was wrong with them, and suggest what should be done to fix them.

Regional results

Southwestern Victoria:

1. Princes Highway West, Colac to Camperdown
2. Princes Highway West, Portland to Port Fairy
3. Henty Highway, Portland to Hamilton.

Western Victoria:

1. Midland Highway, Ballarat to Daylesford
2. Western Highway, Ararat to Stawell
3. Western Highway, Ballarat to Trawalla.

Northwestern Victoria:

1. Loddon Valley Highway, Bendigo to Kerang
2. Northern Highway, Echuca to Heathcote
3. Northern Highway and McIvor Highway, Wallan to Bendigo.

Northeastern Victoria:

1. Melba Highway, Yea to Dixons Creek
2. Goulburn Valley Highway and Maroondah Highway, Yea to Mansfield
3. Murray Valley Highway, Wodonga to Tallangatta.

Eastern Victoria:

1. Strzelecki Highway, Leongatha to Mirboo North
2. Princes Highway East, Bairnsdale to Lakes Entrance
3. South Gippsland Highway, Loch to Leongatha.

While 71 per cent of respondents raised potholes as the number one issue, narrow roads and poor shoulders or edges followed at 12 per cent, ahead of signage, line marking and visibility (10 per cent), speed limits and driver behaviour (10 per cent) and limited overtaking opportunities (10 per cent).

The fix Victorians are asking for is just as clear: resurfacing roads was the most requested improvement at 73 per cent of responses, well ahead of duplicating lanes (11 per cent), removing vegetation and other roadside hazards (3 per cent) and improving signage or line markings (3 per cent).

For more information on the results of RACV’s My Country Road survey, click here to download the full 2026 My Country Road storybook.