Tim McCurdy says there’s no safety imperative to have the barriers near open land and it is a waste of money.

“If there’s a major tree or a river crossing I certainly support them, but if there’s an open paddock that you’re going to run off into I certainly don’t support them,” he said.

The Ovens Valley MLA’s comments coincide with the Victorian government erecting the barriers along the length of the Hume Freeway.

Mr McCurdy believes “they don’t need to be on the whole section of the Hume”.

He said they were creating problems in some areas because they were too closely aligned to the road’s edge.

The Nationals MP said he witnessed a motorist who had pulled to the centre median to change a passenger-side tyre and had been forced to have his backside close to traffic because his vehicle was next to a barrier. 

“There’s a lack of common sense going on,” Mr McCurdy said.

“Some people are making out we’re (the Opposition) anti-saving lives, anti-safety, but the problem is when you do something to solve a problem and it creates a bigger problem then I think you’ve lost the plot.”

Mr McCurdy accused Roads Minister Luke Donnellan of using the barriers to cover delays on a new Yarrawonga-Mulwala bridge.

“The minister has been asked to suspend the current installation of the wire rope barrier program and meet with concerned residents and business people of Yarrawonga about the bridge,” he said.

VicRoads has revealed that last year there were 170 instances of barriers along the freeway being hit by a vehicle with 40 of those between Benalla and Wodonga.

“We’re installing flexible safety barriers on the Hume Freeway because it is one of the highest risk roads in the state,” VicRoads safe system road infrastructure program director Bryan Sherritt said. 

“These barriers are proven to reduce head-on and run-off-road crashes by around 85 per cent.”

Last year 93 lineal kilometres of safety barriers were installed along the freeway between Barnawartha and High Street, Wodonga.

It is planned the length of the freeway in Victoria will be edged by barriers by 2020.

A crew has been formed at Benalla’s VicRoads depot to do major repairs, deemed 30 to 50 damaged posts.

Minor damage, five posts or less is fixed by the nearest depots, with Wangaratta and Wodonga having bases.

Labor MP for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes has backed the rollout.

“The decision to install barriers was a decision...made by the Liberal National Coalition when they were in government,” she said.