A Shelbourne resident was bemused this week to find that in response to some graffiti about the state of a local road, a sign had appeared "answering back" .
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A road hazard sign had been spray-painted with an abusive phrase referring to the road authorities as "dogs", and the small "VicRoads" sign that appeared above it mocked the message for its misplaced apostrophe.
Long-term local Michael Jerman said the sign was the latest instalment in a long-running exchange between local residents and VicRoads about a section of the Bendigo-Maryborough Road a few kilometres from the Lockwood roundabout.
Ironically, while so many regional Victorians want their roads fixed, at Shelbourne the locals are arguing against the need for repairs.
"Back in October 2022 all of a sudden we got rough surface signs and the speed was reduced from 100km/h to 60km/h," he said.
"We don't know why they put them up. There's nothing wrong with the road. It hasn't changed in 15 years and there's never been an accident there."
In the 15 months since the signs first went up, some locals had been consistently taking them down, Mr Jerman said.
"Us as locals sit there laughing because the signs go up and within four days they're gone."
But road workers determinedly replaced them, at one point star-picketing the signs' frame to the ground.
A few days ago Mr Jerman spotted the sign about spelling that is adorned with the VicRoads logo and snapped a few photos of it.
"We laughed when we saw it had gone up. If someone's printed it up they've done a bloody good job of it," he said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Transport and Planning confirmed that the sign was not their work, and sadly, would be removed.
According to the department, pavement on the road section has been damaged by heavy rainfall over recent years.
"Short term repairs" and lower speed limits were put in place until longer-term work could be done, and the repair work on this section was scheduled to begin in February, the department said.
"Our road safety experts assess speed limits according to local conditions and we only temporarily reduce speed limits when needed to ensure public safety," a spokesperson said.
"We urge the public not to tamper with road signage as this puts other road users, including road users not familiar with the local road conditions, at risk."
Mr Jerman said he didn't know who was responsible for any of the meddling with signs but he understood the impulse.
"If they say there's a rough surface, then fix the bloody thing," he said.
