Graffiti on Wangaratta-Yarrawonga Road wiped before road repaired

The words were sprayed on Wangaratta-Yarrawonga Road just metres away from the potholed section in May.

This prompted more remarks to be spray-painted onto the road pleading for the road to be fixed.

"This is rather than putting in a sign advising of a 40kmh speed limit and a rough surface ahead," Ovens Valley MP Tim McCurdy said.

"I am pleased that this pothole has finally been fixed.

"It was long overdue and a genuine danger to drivers.

"It should not take the local MP raising the issue for the road to be fixed."

Opposition Roads Department spokesman Danny O'Brien said the irony of the graffiti being fixed, but not the road, "was not lost on anyone".

"It just shows the ridiculous systems and bureaucracy that goes on in the government, where it is okay to have an incredibly dangerous bit of road remain unrepaired for a length of time ... while criticisms of VicRoads have to be covered up straight away," Mr O'Brien said.

Mr McCurdy said he was "frustrated at the neglect shown" at the region's ailing roads.

"This was a genuine safety hazard, where a car may have had to swerve into oncoming traffic, or off the road, to avoid the pothole," Mr McCurdy said.

"In the process they could have lost control of the car causing an incident, or damaging their own vehicle.

"I have no doubt that if this pothole - or chasm - was located in Bourke Street in the CBD, or anywhere in Melbourne, it would be dealt with immediately.

"Instead, we are left to suffer due to massive funding cuts from regional road programs.

"We to restore funding to our regional roads and ensure they are safe for locals to use."

Wangaratta-Yarrawonga Road, managed by the state, not Moira Council, is one of hundreds of roads in the North East damaged by the floods last year.

Many Border and North East councils say repairs to roads peppered with potholes are slowly progressing, but some state-owned roads are still on the waiting list.

Many councils said they are "heavily reliant" on state funding which isn't always forthcoming, and state action on the roads they manage is often delayed.

Some said they are constantly bombarded with complaints about delays in fixing potholes on roads that were out of their hands.

The Victorian Department of Roads has been contacted by The Border Mail for comment.

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