Due to the significant bushfires across the state, a large numbers of roads have been impacted across Victoria.
State Response Controller, David Nugent, said crews were working hard to provide safe access for people to return to their homes and communities as quickly as possible.
“Our number one priority is community safety and we cannot reopen a road until it has been deemed safe to do so.
“It is expected that some roads will reopen in a few days, whereas other roads with more significant damage or in active fire grounds will take longer.
“Over 100 local and arterial roads are currently closed across the state – particularly in North East Victoria. Of the 15 main arterial roads currently closed, five are expected to reopen in the next 24 hours.
“The bushfires have damaged road surfaces, signage, markings and bridges – many of which are still in active fire grounds. First we need to make sure the roads are safe from fire, then we can start clearing debris and do our critical hazardous tree assessments. We are then getting local traffic to come in as quickly as we can when we are confident they will be safe.
Images above: Damaged roads and bridges in the Harcourt area.
“Our focus is to prioritise local access for residents, agricultural and business purposes – such as providing fodder for livestock, supporting dairy farmers with tanker access, providing generators for those that need them, along with critical infrastructure repairs. Fodder deliveries are being coordinated in scheduled times of the day to ensure the safety of individuals.
“There are currently thousands of hazardous trees along roadsides in fire impacted areas, making them unsafe for general access.
“Significant work is underway to assess all the damaged roads, including hazardous tree assessment by specialist crews. We have also been working closely with local arborists to support this critical hazardous tree assessment works.
“This assessment can take significant time and expertise. The first stage of this process is to clear debris from roads to allow assessors to safely access the site. Once safe to do say, assessors can then properly determine how bad the damage is and treat the risk.”
To ensure roads can be reopened as quickly as possible, members of the public are asked to avoid these areas until advised otherwise.
Once roads are reopened, drivers should abide by posted speed limits and conditions – they are there for safety reasons. A reminder also to never park under trees in fire impacted areas.
For the most up-to-date information on road closures in bushfire affected communities visit the VicTraffic website.
Since 7 January, there have been 189 road closures statewide due to the fires, with 114 roads still impacted.
|
Region |
Number of roads impacted during event (total) |
Number of roads reopened |
Number of roads currently closed |
|
Hume |
126 |
72 |
54 |
|
Gippsland |
6 |
3 |
3 |
|
Barwon South West |
16 |
9 |
7 |
|
Grampians |
22 |
20 |
2 |
|
Loddon Mallee |
21 |
14 |
7 |
Road impacts as at 11am on 14 January 2026. Note that some roads are in two regions, so regional numbers may not exactly match the state totals.
