Golden Highway voted worst road in the Dubbo region in a NRMA survey

With tyre service mechanics warning that "someone is going to die" on the roads in their current state and tourists ending up on the side of the road due to potholes, Dubbo road users have suffered their fair share of issues.

The NRMA made a stance along Church Street on Tuesday, March 14 with a demonstration of a car falling into a pothole.

This was a direct call out to all branches of government to step up and provide more funding for regional roads.

With more than 934 votes cast for Dubbo roads in the NRMA's rate your roads survey, residents decided the Golden Highway was the worst road in the region to drive on.

NRMA spokesperson, Katrina Usman, thanked Dubbo residents for having their say on the "critical issue" and for joining the campaign to make roads safer and more efficient.

Voting commenced in December 2022 and the results are being rolled out across the state in the lead-up to the NSW election on March, 25.

In Dubbo, the Mitchell Highway at Wongarbon, Wilfred Smith Drive and Dunedoo Road received votes for better performance.

"In Dubbo the Golden highway was voted on and rated the worst road in the area, with condition and safety being the prime reasons," Ms Usman said.

Other roads that received low ratings included Cobbora Road and Wheelers Lane, with condition being the primary concern.

"In January the NRMA announced that the backlog for local roads had risen to more $2.23 billion with Dubbo Regional Council's backlog being $6.2 million," Ms Usman said.

Dubbo Regional Council previously announced they have a backlog of $40 million but because of recent floods and storms, the amount has risen.

"We know with the ongoing severe weather many drivers have experienced running into a pothole and at the NRMA our roadside assistance team has seen a high volume and increased number of call outs for wheel and tyre damage over the last year," she said.

"What we have behind us [pictured above] is what everyone feels like when they've hit a pothole, they feel like they've gone right into it."

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During her time in Dubbo, Ms Usman found some time to drive across the roads that were mentioned in the survey and noticed that the local council had started to do repairs.

"While repairs have begun, you can see on the roads some of them have already given way to trucks and you have lumps on the side of the road indicating they are already being damaged," she said.

"This is why we are calling for more funding so council's can not only repair the roads but improve the materials they are using so the roads are better able to handle those heavy freight loads.

"The state government has committed to more funding as part of the budget and we are calling on the federal government to step up."

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