Dungog Shire Council has resolved to increase its road maintenance funding by $250,000 in the current financial year, to deliver a blitz on the growing list of road defects and safety concerns, following this year’s extreme weather events.
Mayor of Dungog Shire, Councillor John Connors, says the road maintenance and repair budget adjustment will help to deliver a condensed program of road maintenance activities to improve the quality of Dungog’s road network for all shire residents and visitors.
“Following this year’s ongoing wet weather conditions and extreme weather events, the deteriorating quality and safety of our road network has been an ongoing priority council has been working to address,” says Mayor Connors.
“Our council crews have been inundated with requests for pothole patching and road maintenance across all parts of the shire and we greatly appreciate the patience and cooperation of our residents, while crews work to rectify these road defects according to the level of safety and accessibility concerns presented.
“This additional funding will build on the ongoing efforts of existing council crews, allowing for three extra maintenance teams to help get on top of the demand presented, as well as enabling increased operation of all council road maintenance teams to six days per week to expedite the repair of our roads to a standard which we all deserve.”
The funding boost to the road maintenance program will enable various combinations of day labour hire, external plant hire, extra materials, and staff overtime to:
- Supplement the permanent road patching crews to enable the formation of three additional maintenance crews. One of the crews will be pothole patching Dungog’s sealed road network (to supplement the two ordinary sealed road maintenance teams) and two crews will be tasked with road repairs on the unsealed road network.
The unsealed road crews will be gravel patching and drain clearing, ahead of the two standard unsealed road grading teams.
- Supplement the two existing unsealed roads maintenance grading teams with an additional team.
- Enable the reinstatement of council’s two roadside slashing teams to supplement the current contract slasher, creating three roadside slasher teams.
- Enable the road patching team to operate six days per week.
The $250,000 is being transferred from the Transport & Communication section of council’s quarterly budget to Sealed Rural Roads maintenance and repair and is offset by a reduced spend for bridge maintenance, noting that all necessary bridge maintenance tasks have been undertaken.
