Melbourne
Victoria awards contracts to repair suburban roads and major highways across Melbourne. Credit: Brian Yap (葉).

The Government of Victoria in Australia has awarded A$183m ($133.5m) in contracts to three companies to refurbish and resurface suburban roads and major highways across Melbourne.

Downer EDI Works, Fulton Hogan Industries and Sprayline Road Services will be responsible for repairing more than 200 roads including sections of the Princes Highway, Nepean Highway, and Hume Freeway.

Refurbishments will be performed on Heidelberg Road, St Georges Road and the Greensborough Highway in the northern suburbs.

Important arterial roads such as Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road, Centre Dandenong Road, and the South Gippsland Highway will also be repaired under the contracts.

“This is the biggest road maintenance blitz Melbourne has ever seen, filling thousands of potholes and creating around 100 jobs.”

More than 224km of roads are expected to be repaired over the next year as part of plans.

Work will focus on improving roadside infrastructure with assets such as signs, safety barriers, and fences.

Victoria Minister for Roads and Road Safety Jaala Pulford said: “This is the biggest road maintenance blitz Melbourne has ever seen, filling thousands of potholes, fixing hundreds of kilometres of roads and creating around 100 jobs.”

Burwood Member Will Fowles said: “These are the suburban roads that we rely on every day to get to work, take the kids to school and visit friends and family.

“It’s vital that we make sure that our local roads remain safe and reliable.”

A roadside clearing programme will also be launched in regional and metropolitan Victoria to lessen the risk of grassfires and bushfires.