A combination of new technologies, community feedback and a recent comprehensive inspection report of the Shoalhaven's 1,906 km of roads is providing Council crews with the information they need to prioritise and fix the region's network of roads.
Federal and state government funding continues to help with the cost of major rehabilitation projects, with many of the Shoalhaven's roads damaged by the severe weather events and natural disasters that have battered the region over several years.
Acting Director City Services, Kevin Norwood said his team was working hard to make the roads safe for the community.
"Resident feedback undertaken in November 2024 told us that road maintenance was the community's top priority and we take this very seriously," Mr Norwood said.
"We know that we have many roads that are in poor condition and our crews are out there every day to perform both short and long-term fixes on the region's roads," he said.
"The recent rates increase of 12 per cent is providing an additional $6 million toward road maintenance and renewal for the next financial year and this will certainly help to provide safer roads.
"I would like to thank our road crews for working under tight fiscal conditions - they too are community members and take pride in the work they deliver every day."
Mr Norwood welcomed services like the NSW Government's 'Report a pothole or damaged road' online form, but assured residents that innovation used by Council was also helping to alert crews to road works.
Council's recycling trucks are using cameras to monitor road conditions, with artificial intelligence scouring the footage from the cameras to identify potholes, road cracks, or damage. The data is then triaged and work orders created for crews to be sent out to fix the problem.
In addition, a comprehensive condition assessment report undertaken earlier this year, represents a massive improvement in Council's ability to identify and target road renewal that will get the most out of funds to improve the resilience and performance of our road network.
The data collected indicates that 133km (7%) of the Shoalhaven's 1,900km road network have very poor underlying pavement conditions which are compromising the overall condition of the road. This represents a ballpark cost of $133 million to reconstruct those roads up to a satisfactory standard.
A further five percent of roads are in a poor condition and require reconstruction before deteriorating further, at an estimated cost of $95 million, along with approximately 570km of roads that need the surface replaced at an estimated cost of $54.1 million.
Council continues to work collaboratively with the state and federal government on roads funding. Work on a package of six roads being upgraded thanks to a $40 million commitment from the Australian Government is on track and progressing well.
Council received the first instalment of funding in July 2024 and is undertaking work in three phases over a three-year period. Works are due for completion in late 2027, with agreement of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts.
There are four roads and two intersections being upgraded and these include:
- Forest Road
- Callala Beach Road
- Callala Bay Road
- Culburra Road
- Coonemia / Currarong / Callala Bay Road Intersection
- Greenwell Point / Worrigee Road Intersection
Council also received funding through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements and NSW Infrastructure Betterment Fund to carry out road rehabilitation works on Illaroo Road in Bangalee with completion due by the end of this year.
