Roads Minister Tim Pallas announced more than $3.6 million for local roads this week and while there are no concrete plans for a highway upgrade, he said the government would look at options that would ``lead to substantial improvement in terms of road safety''.

Car dealer Peter Wight last week aired concerns that lives would be lost if measures were not put in place to improve safety on the road outside the Traralgon car dealerships.

He renewed calls for a safety upgrade on the highway following the 24 July crash between a bus and a semi-trailer, which injured 17 passengers, including two critically.

Mr Wight has suggested a deceleration lane along the left-hand side of the road from Bradford Drive to Coonoc Road, would be the best option to improve safety for those pulling into and out of the car dealerships.

Mr Pallas said all options needed to be investigated before measures to improve the road were put in place.

``The idea of service lane improvements, speed reductions and greater line of sight improvements need to be considered and the government will play its part,'' he said.

``But we need to see if there is anything that can be done in this context.

``It's not simply doing something for the sake of doing it, it's about making sure we do something that will make a difference to people's welfare.''

Mr Pallas said constructing a service or deceleration lane would be the responsibility of council but the State Government was ``happy to enter into a partnership... in order to ensure we come up with the best outcome for the community.''

He could not say when this would occur.

Mr Pallas said a safety audit had been undertaken on the section of highway and in April this year the speed limit was reduced from 100km/h to 80km/h.

Police are still investigating the cause of last month's crash and Mr Pallas said the outcome would be important in making a decision on the road.

``Historically over the last five years there has only been one fatality on that road up until that time,'' he said.

``Each life is of course of importance to us and therefore the accident that occurred does need to be reviewed.

``We do need to see if there are any lessons that have been learned both in terms of the way the road is structured and what we can do in order to ensure that it remains safe.''

Meanwhile, Mr Pallas announced funding for other local projects, including:

$516,000 for improvements to Willow Grove Road,

$273,000 for pavement rehabilitation works on Mirboo North-Trafalgar Road and

$171,000 for pavement rehabilitation works on Loy Yang-Morwell Road.

``Our roads are critically important to our economic development but also in terms of our community connectedness,'' he said.

``They are a critical part of our social fabric and making sure that they are safe is one of the things they (the projects) are particularly focused on.''