Announced on January 3, the program is making more money available to local councils to carrying out urgent repairs on roads that are falling apart due to rain and flooding.

It comes after the NSW government in October, 2022 announced a $50 million road repair fund to be shared among 95 councils, which numerous regional mayors slammed for not going far enough.

The opening date for applications for the $500 million funding program has now been fast-tracked, with councils able to apply from January 11.

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Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government made the decision to open applications earlier following an overwhelmingly positive response from mayors and councils.

"We've fast-tracked this cash injection and made the process simple so councils can focus on important road repairs that will keep communities connected and safe," he said.

"We understand the job councils have ahead of them and that's why we have been helping with financial assistance since early last year and providing engineers, road workers and machinery.

"Our road maintenance crews have been hard at work repairing the state-managed road network since the first bout of serve weather hit, patching more than 200,000 potholes on major roads and highways since last February.

"We have already provided $50 million to regional councils that will allow them to repair over 400,000 potholes on their roads but this funding will go further and see sections of roads regraded and rebuilt in the worst hit parts of the state."

Councils need to make an application to Transport for NSW, which will allocate the funds based on total kilometres of roads managed in each local government area.

Dubbo Regional Council mayor Mathew Dickerson stated last week he was confident his council will receive around $5.3 million.

The funding split will provide $280 million for rural and regional councils and $220 million for councils in Greater Sydney and outer metropolitan areas.

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