While the concept is only at an idea stage, the road would replicate the original purpose of the Midland Highway which runs in a ring across the middle of Victoria from Geelong to Mansfield.

Certain busy sections including the Geelong to Ballarat stretch of the Midland Highway have been earmarked for added passing lanes and increased safety infrastructure by VicRoads but the latest push by trucking advocates wants something on a much larger scale.  

Victorian Transport Association chief executive officer Peter Anderson said the new road was necessary to redress the “absolutely ridiculous” status quo, which sees trucks diverted through Melbourne when travelling between regional centres.

“It’s not something that’s on the radar of the politicians but it needs to be, they need to understand that regional centres need to be connected,” he said.

Speaking ahead of a regional transport safety forum the VTA is hosting in Bendigo on Thursday, Mr Anderson said the ring road would also reduce road hazards by diverting larger trucks away from smaller “secondary” arterials.

“It would improve productivity, it would improve the standard of living, it would decrease the element of risk, improve safety on the roads – there’s a lot of benefits to it,” he said.

For transport companies the problem is Victoria’s road system is axial with major routes capable of efficiently and safely taking heavy trucks largely emanating from Melbourne and the ports.

Maryborough-based Central Victorian Transport director Rod Brown called the current situation in which truck drivers travelling across the state were diverted through Melbourne as “just crazy”.

“For many year’s I’ve promoted that there should be what I call a central Victorian ring road, which would, let’s say, emanate from Geelong and give Ballarat a north-south bypass,” he said.

Mr Brown said the road would benefit rural and regional businesses through improved access to towns and cities outside Melbourne, which would also have flow on benefits for metropolitan road users.

“Of course it’s probably a 30-year project but at the end of the day if we don’t plan it’ll never change,” he said.