‘Statewide emergency’ declared for NSW roads after floods and torrential rain

By ERIN MODARO

Local Government NSW has claimed a state of emergency for the state’s roads as the recent deluge of wet weather means NSW road infrastructure is currently in dire condition. As Sydney records its wettest year on record, with La Niña predicted to extend into 2023, road conditions are worsening as potholes soar in number.

Local Government NSW says that floods and torrential rain have caused $2.5 billion in road damages, leading to the “collapse of the local and regional road network”. LGNSW President Darriea Turley said that “NSW communities are facing an unprecedented disaster” on their roads. 

“More than 220 natural disaster areas have been declared across NSW this year, leaving the road network in a state of disrepair.”

LGNSW is urgently calling on the state and federal governments to increase funding for roads, and increase funding for councils to address the emergency.

“When this rain finally recedes, we owe it to our communities that they gain access to their road network as quickly as possible” Turley said. 

NRMA recorded the amount of calls for tyre and wheel damage drastically escalated in 2022, after 26,440 assistance calls were made over July and August. NRMA also reports that 1 in 10 calls this year have been directly related to tyre damage.

Who is responsible for potholes and road damage?

Responsibility for damage depends on whether state or local government manages the road that has been impacted. NSW roads are classified into three categories: state, regional and local.

Local governments are responsible for 90% of roads in the NSW road network by length. This means majority of pothole complaints are dealt with by local councils.

The Inner West Council recently reported that pothole crews had filled in 10,700 potholes in 2022 alone.

NRMA numbers reveal that two inner-city councils were among the highest tyre incident call out areas in NSW, with the Inner West LGA area recording 1,592 calls, and the City of Sydney recording 1,805.

The state government repaired 10,000 state managed roads in the Greater Sydney area between March and June this year.

In October, the NSW government pledged $50 million to assist regional and rural councils with fixing roads.

“NSW has had more than its fair share of natural disasters and extreme weather and it’s promising to see that more than 135,000 potholes have been repaired on State roads in regional NSW since February,” Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said.

However, LGNSW is calling for a significant increase to funding for the Fixing Local Roads and Fixing Country Bridges program. 

“I call on the NSW and Federal Governments to take action on the Statewide Roads Emergency and help our regional and rural communities bounce back from the devastation caused by this year’s floods” Turley said.