Regional roads: NSW Government to spend $50m to fill 420,000 potholes
Hundreds of thousands of potholes have appeared on regional roads across the state. Now the NSW Government is set to hand out millions to fix them.
Central Coast
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A massive $50 million will be handed out to regional councils across the state in an effort to fill in an eye-watering 420,000 potholes that have opened up on local roads following repeated wet-weather lashings.
Regional and rural councils across NSW will be able to apply for part of the $50 million fund, available from the end of November, after the number of potholes across the state skyrocketed as a result of extreme weather events.
Regional Transport and Roads Minister, Sam Farraway, revealed to NewsLocal regional councils would be able to apply for funding to help address their “highest priority” pothole repairs.
“NSW has had more than its fair share of natural disasters and extreme weather and it’s promising to see that more than 135,000 potholes have been repaired on state roads in regional NSW since February,” Mr Farraway said.
“However, plenty more potholes still require attention, particularly on council-managed roads, which is why our government is putting more money on the table for councils to repair potholes on the roads regional communities use every day.
“This funding is available to help every regional council across the state to carry out emergency repairs and would fix roughly more than 420,000 potholes on their roads.”
Work to fix the hundreds of thousands of potholes popping up on regional and rural roads across the state will need to be completed by council by January 1, 2024.
NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said every cent will count to help “support councils in repairing regional and rural roads”.
“We welcome the announcement, these funds are going to be vital to face the challenges local roads are facing as we continue to bare the brunt of heavy rains,” Mr Khoury said.
“The potholes on our roads are just going to get bigger as the rains continue so we support this initiative.
“There is going to have to be an ongoing commitment to support regional councils, who have repeatedly faced extreme weather events, when it comes to our roads.”
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