Dubbo mayor Mathew Dickerson has excitedly welcomed NSW customer service and digital government minister Victor Dominello's plans to digitise road inspections in the state's 128 local government areas to enable urgent repair of dangerous roads.
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Mr Dominello announced in his social media that a digital camera with sensor will be attached underneath garbage trucks to locate and determine the extent of damaged council roads across the state.
"I've seen this technology used overseas which not only monitor use of roads, it also spots movements of uneven surfaces and visualised movements on catched video footages," Cr Dickerson said.
"If minister Dominello wants to trial it here in Dubbo, we welcome him with open arms. I believe solving the problem with our roads revolves around the use of technology.
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"We certainly are needing road repairs and be able to determine priority level for each repair brought forward to our attention."
Currently, Cr Dickerson said a listing of Dubbo council-managed roads that need priority repair was in the works as residents regularly contact the council to bring to its attention repair on potholes and surfaces that pose risks to motorists and other road users.
The repairs of local roads around Dubbo will fall under the $500 million Fixing Local Roads in which the NSW transport and roads department prioritises shovel-ready projects to repair, maintain and seal across LGAs.
Councils apply for funding to complete vital works to improve journeys for regional communities, farmers and freight. The program also assists councils to accelerate upgrades and reduce their local roads maintenance backlogs.
The far west region was allocated $45 million last year to upgrade dozens of local roads to improve journeys for regional towns, help farmers and freighters ease transporting produce and freighters from Nyngan to Broken Hill announced by the Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Paul Toole.
The project involves 34 locations in 24 far west LGAs which are part of priority funding under the third round of the Fixing Local Roads Program. Dubbo residents' urgent road concerns are patching and sealing because they use it everyday.