Pothole repairs across Lake Macquarie have more than tripled in the past two years as Council crews work overtime to fix roads hit by heavy rain and flooding.
Analysis of repairs undertaken each financial year shows crews filled in more than 14,500 potholes in the 2022-2023 financial year, and more than 15,000 in 2021-2022.
Manager City Works Matthew Brogan said the long-term annual average was about 3500 pothole repairs.
“This has been an exceptionally busy period for all our patching crews and contractors, and that demand has been spread right across the city,” he said.
“Motorists often vent their frustration about potholes and roads in sub-par conditions, but we really have been doing everything we can to get jobs done quickly, efficiently and effectively.”
“We’ve spent $17.6 million on patching, pothole repairs and resurfacing over the past 12 months, up from the $10.5 million we spent last year and $10.8 million in the year before that.”
Crews laid an estimated 500,000sqm of asphalt in patching, pothole repairs and road resurfacing jobs in the past financial year, equivalent to an 83km continuous stretch of road.
That amounted to 56,000 tonnes of asphalt, including 22,000 used for patching alone.
Pothole repairs are prioritised across the city, based on the road’s traffic volumes and the risk they pose to road users.
Council deploys two full-time crews to undertake the work: one covering the city’s east, another the west. It also employs contractors for some tasks, including ‘heavy patching’ – a more substantial solution than individual pothole repairs, but less time intensive or expensive than replacing a road.
“Pothole repairs are a bit of a thankless task,” Mr Brogan said.
“The crews are often out in the worst conditions, and no matter how much we do there will always be demand for more to be done.”
“But I’m really proud of the effort our teams continue to put in to clear our backlog and keep roads serviceable.”
Council maintains more than 1300km of roads through its Road Reseal and Rehabilitation Program.
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