VicRoads shake-up for unsafe roads

VicRoads says it is changing its approach to road maintenance after years of neglect have left the public increasingly at risk.

Not enough money is put into road maintenance and VicRoads cannot show it is making the best use of existing maintenance funds, Auditor General Andrew Greaves has found.

In a report tabled on Thursday, he said if the current level of investment continued, VicRoads' own modelling predicted half of the state's road network would be in "very poor condition" by 2025.

VicRoads chief executive John Merritt said much of the state's arterial roads were built soon after WWII when trucks were not as heavy as they were now.

"In the 1940s and 50s a 40-tonne truck was one of the largest vehicles on the road, but today those same roads could be carrying vehicles over 80 tonne," he said.

Mr Merritt said the 2017/18 budget doubles maintenance funding and a new management plan had been developed.

The new approach includes an organisational reshuffle, better planning, more community engagement and different maintenance delivery plans.