National

Billions needed to fix NSW roads: NRMA

By AAP Newswire

Dec 13, 2022

Residents crossing a damaged road in the town of Canowindra, NSW — Councils will need increased state and federal funding to restore NSW roads, the NRMA says. -AAP Image

The cost of fixing the extensive damage caused to NSW roads by months of catastrophic and widespread flooding is predicted to cost billions of dollars.

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The NRMA's Fix Our Broken Roads report released on Tuesday revealed NSW councils were already facing a $1.9 billion backlog in 2020/21 to maintain roads to a safe standard.

NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury says early indications suggest that figure will be dwarfed as the state's 128 councils begin to report the extent of damage caused by the flooding that has devastated NSW roads this year.

The backlog in the regions alone in 2020/21 was $1.5b and this financial year the backlog was already $1.1b, with only 60 per cent of regional councils reporting on the extent of the road damage so far.

"We know from the $1.9 billion existing funding deficit revealed by the NRMA today that things are already bad and will only get worse as the true devastation from the floods is quantified," Mr Khoury said.

Councils were going to need increased funding from state and federal governments to restore the state's road network, he said.

"As a community we need to work together to get councils the funding they need to get the job done," he said.

The report calls for more funding for councils as well as the adoption of new standards and materials to ensure roads are more resilient to damage, as well as a technology-driven audit of the road network to support maintenance.