Night road inspection results in

Published on 11 August 2025

Loddon Shire Council recently concluded its night road inspection program for 2025.

The program, which takes place during the winter, is carried out on both sealed and unsealed rural roads and town streets - a total of about 770km of Council-managed roads.

Staff did the inspections between 5.30pm and 2.30am.

The purpose of the program is to make sure road signs are in place, clearly visible with full reflectivity and not obscured by vegetation.

This year's program found 210 defects.

Of these, 168 related to signs needing to be replaced or repaired, including 71 hazard or warning signs, 32 regulatory signs and 23 guideposts.

Along with signs, the inspection found 13 potholes in need of repair, and 12 issues relating to vegetation.

Council Director Operations Steve Van Orsouw said the work would be carried out as per Council’s adopted Road Management Plan.

“We are committed to ensuring all signage in place meets Australian safety standards,” Mr Van Orsouw said.

Apart from the night inspection program, Council also periodically inspects railway crossings both during the day and at night, local bridges and carries out maintenance and hazard inspections.

Data from Loddon Shire Council’s quarterly Road Management Plan Defect Rectification Compliance Report shows that 98.6 per cent of defects identified on shire roads between 1 January and 31 March 2025 – whether from inspections, the public or works crews – were fixed before their due date.

Council welcomes the public to report any defects or concerns – please visit https://www.loddon.vic.gov.au/For-residents/Report-an-issue to do so.