Dubbo Regional Council has a $40 million backlog of road work and potholes to fix in LGA

Road users face extra costs to ruined vehicles while mechanics face a backlog of burst tyres.

DRC needs assistance from the state government as their backlog continues to grow and not enough funding in their budget to cover the ongoing costs.

With a budget of $7.2 million for road maintenance and $21 million for planned capital works, including grant funding, this pales in comparison to the $40 million road infrastructure backlog.

Dubbo Regional Council mayor Mathew Dickerson said the roads in the LGA were in the poorest conditions he could remember.

"Council would need an additional $40 million today to bring the entire road network up to an acceptable state," he said.

"Unfortunately this backlog has been steadily building since the amalgamation and never addressed. That is something this council will need to consider."

With a road network of 2,872 kilometres of which 1,356 kilometres is unsealed, the prolonged wet weather has meant that any scheduled maintenance has been interrupted and renewal projects delayed.

"All of this results in the road deteriorating at a faster rate than is ideal," he said.

"The pavements and subgrade are completely saturated which means temporary repairs do not last under these wet conditions.

"Unsealed roads are also failing due to the natural surface being saturated and water being retained in the table drains."

The amalgamation between Wellington and Dubbo saw the road network grow, something that has put extra pressure on council.

"The road network was already under financial pressure in both the previous Dubbo City Council LGA and the Wellington Shire Council LGA and the amalgamation has not inherently created an environment that changes those pressures," Cr Dickerson said.

Shortfalls in funding for road asset renewal was not addressed by the amalgamation because the rate base remained the same across the combined area.

To address the backlog, council has an ongoing program to review services and improve efficiencies.

"That will continually improve the financial performance of council but not at the scale required to address an asset backlog," Cr Dickerson said.

A focus on getting government grants for asset renewals is how council plans on getting the money to fix the current state of the roads.

A rate variation is on the cards, but only as a last resort.

"Ultimately council has conversations with community around service levels and rates each financial year but a rate variation above IPART rate-pegging would only be a last resort after all other avenues have been exhausted," he said.

The Dubbo local government area has state, regional and local roads, with the state roads being the responsibility of Transport for NSW.

Mayor Dickerson said council has a contract with TfNSW to undertake minor maintenance activities on the state road network in the DRC LGA.

"For works that are beyond minor maintenance, TfNSW will create a scope of works and those tasks may also be undertaken by council but they could also be carried out by TfNSW crews or private contractors," he said.

TfNSW roads maintained by DRC under the Road Maintenance Council Contract include the Newell Highway inside the city limits, the Golden Highway inside the LGA, the Mitchell Highway (in Dubbo, Geurie and Wellington limits) and Goolma Road.

The other sections of the state road network are maintained solely by TfNSW.

DRC receives an annual allocation from TfNSW to maintain regional roads, however Cr Dickerson said the cost of maintenance is usually higher then the allocated amount.

"It is subsidised by council to maintain the roads in a safe condition. Council also seeks grant funds to undertake renewal and improvement works on the Regional Road network," he said.

Mayor Dickerson said council was working as "hard as possible" with the limitations of funding and weather to produce "the best possible roads".

"We fully understand that the road network is currently not ideal. Most importantly, drive to the conditions and be patient with all levels of government as this is a much larger issue than just Dubbo Regional Council," he said.

The mayor asked that residents drive to the conditions and don't drive on roads where water is across the road.

"Council endeavours to have signage out to warn motorists, but with flash flooding, we cannot get to each individual location so please take care when on the roads," he said.

"Council places signage to warn motorists of potential hazards so please don't drive past road closed or water over road signage."

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