Country Roads Board

History

Country Roads Board plaque from 1975 on Yarra Bend Road bridge over the Eastern Freeway in Kew, Victoria.

The Country Roads Board (CRB) was formed to take over responsibility from the Board of Lands and Works for the care and management of the main roads of the state. Until then there was a lack of co-operation between the agencies with operational responsibility for roads, the Roads and Bridges Branch of the Public Works Department and local municipalities, in the construction and maintenance of main roads. Expenditure of state funds was without proper supervision or a thorough investigation into actual needs. The absence of a systematic policy, as well as a lack of funds, had resulted in Victorian roads being in a deplorable condition.^{[citation needed]} At this time the use of the motor car accentuated the demands for better roads.^[1]

As a result of these needs the Country Roads Act 1912 (No.2415) was proclaimed in 1913 establishing the Country Roads Board as a central road authority with responsibility for those roads within the State considered to be main roads.^{[citation needed]}