Massive surge in cars being towed from pothole-ridden roads

Two weeks of torrential rain and flash flooding has spelt disaster for Sydney roads as the government expects a repair bill of “millions of dollars”.

A growing tally of potholes across Sydney will rack up a repair bill of “millions of dollars” as the NRMA reported a 300 per cent yearly increase in the number of damaged cars which had be towed from rain-damaged roads.

The NRMA fielded 8000 calls for help on March 7 compared to the average of 5000 calls – marking the roadside assistance outfit’s busiest Monday in four years.

Another 7600 calls for help were made on Tuesday and there was an almost 60 per cent increase in NRMA patrols compared to last year.

Spokesman Peter Khoury said consistent rainfall had made it impossible for councils to fix the potholes and the weather exacerbated damage from previous storms.

Pothole on Mccarrs Creek Road. One of just thousands across the state. Picture: Tim Hunter.

“There has been a 307 per cent increase in tows. Overwhelmingly, this was because of tyres. The damage is so significant that the car has to be towed instead of just repaired,” he said.

Mr Khoury said the state and federal government must ensure that existing council funding is enhanced to support the major repair costs.

It comes as Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello eyes an expansion of a trial underway in Canterbury-Bankstown Council where road damage sensors are placed under garbage trucks to ensure authorities are aware of all hazards even if people do not report them.

Mr Dominello is looking to scale up the program to other metro and regional areas and Liverpool Council has expressed an interest in taking part.

“It means you’re not just assessing the state of the roads with a paper report once a year but in real-time on a daily basis,” he said.

“This means you can focus resources where and, importantly, when they’re needed.”

The damage is so bad, cars have to be towed. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello is looking to expand a trial of pothole detection sensors across the state. Picture: Christian Gilles.

Canterbury-Bankstown Councillor George Zakhia said the damage from the rain had been “disastrous”.

“We have massive holes everywhere, in every road. It will definitely cost in the million to fix,” he said.

“With this technology it sends us a signal about there being a problem before we get a phone call from locals.”

While the new initiative is in early stages, Metropolitan Roads Minister Natalie Ward has ordered an urgent audit of all metropolitan roads and revealed that major motorways and area with serious safety risks will be prioritised for repairs.

“There will be a lot of them out there. It is going to take a long time to get them fixed,” she said.

Metropolitan Roads Minister Natalie Ward has ordered an urgent audit of all roads. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

“Those maintenance repair crews are out there doing temporary repairs on those potholes. But of course, you can‘t fix them permanently until it’s dry weather. So, they will do the temporary repairs for now.”

Ms Ward said it was too early to determine just how much the damage was going to cost the taxpayers.

“I don‘t have a grasp on that. What I can say is in terms of the maintenance project, I’m getting that audit undertaken so we can see what the task is,” she said.

Northern Beaches Mayor Michael Regan put the bill at “millions” with “some degree of damage in every street” across his council area.

“The major roads like Pittwater Road, Wahroonga Road, Forest Way, they’re smashed. They get the most traffic with buses and heavy trucks,” he said.

“Our staff are in the field now while there is a break in the weather to prioritise logging and assessing them.”