Dubbo may be in line for road funding, with the NSW government announcing it will be spending more than $700 million to upgrade and maintain regional roads.
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The new Regional Emergency Road Repair Fund (RERRF), which will be announced in next Tuesday's state budget, will deliver $390 million directly into the hands of regional and rural councils for urgent road and pothole repairs, expanding the total fund for road repairs to $670 million.
The RERRF funding will be shared across all 95 eligible regional councils and authorities, based on the total kilometres of regional and local roads they are responsible for managing.
Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Jenny Aitchsion said this structure supports councils in managing their roads and prioritising works based on the needs of their communities, particularly those damaged by natural disasters.
"This begins to address the inequity of the former government's Regional and Local Roads Repair Program which saw urban councils receiving five times more funding for flood recovery compared to regional, rural and remote councils," Ms Aitchison said.
"This funding commitment will ensure the roads used by regional communities daily are efficient, safe, and reliable so people can travel around town, go to work, education and healthcare, visit their family and friends, and keep our supply chains moving.
"Not only will councils have direct access to funding to fix potholes and make necessary repairs, the delivery of one of our key election commitments will enable preventative or unplanned maintenance to be carried out to ensure safer and smoother journeys for motorists."
The government also announced it will create a new $334 million Regional Roads Fund for councils to build new roads and roundabouts, replace or repair old bridges and improve safety at crash blackspots in rural and regional areas.
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