Road network groaning under funding pressure

More than 200mm of rain delivered run-off that lifted the bitumen all across the Illawarra during last week's vigorous autumn break and the state government was quick to allocate $5.8 million for urgent repairs to the Shoalhaven and Shellharbour districts.

The hand-out is one of a growing number, with flood damage from 2022 still waiting for re-construction. Since that time floods have ripped roads up and down the eastern seaboard and west of the dividing range with new damage adding to the mounting funding toll.

In last year's budget the federal government forked out $250 million for regional roads- just a pebble in a $5.5-billion pothole according to the Rural Roads Alliance.

This week GrainGrowers re-iterated the call for more money ahead of next year's budget - $1 billion each year to go towards road maintenance and local council shortfalls.

"The stark challenge facing regional councils is that while the cost of bridge maintenance in urban areas is typically shared between 4934 people, in rural areas it is only shared by 142 people," said GrainGrowers policy manager Annabel Mactier."

NSW Farmers, a member of the National Farmers Federation Rural Roads Alliance, is also again asking governments to throw more money at the issue.

President Xavier Martin said: "While we recognise there have been initiatives such as the Regional Roads and Transport Package, and the appointment of a new CEO of the NSW Reconstruction Authority, the breadth of road devastation means there is still major work to be done and it's now getting far too dangerous for many to continue on our crumbling roads."

Typical of many rural local government agencies the Richmond Valley Council, which includes the town of Casino, manages 1064 kilometres of road, half of which is gravel, and which gobbles up 32 per cent of the council's annual budget and involves filling 40,000 potholes.

General manager Vaughan Macdonald says the local damage bill from the 2022 floods will see close to $200m in expenditure, with government grant funding only now trickling into council coffers.

A $13m landslip and an $18m bridge are the big ticket items, but every day road grading adds up.

To deal with the 550km of dirt the council runs two full-time road crews that include a grader, road roller and water truck to reconstruct one kilometre in a day at a cost of $3000.

To add fresh gravel to the job requires an additional $20,000/km for a 50mm layer on a standard rural road, but the work takes twice as long and so blows the cost out to $26,000/km.

Every driver likes bitumen, but at what cost? Mr Macdonald notes that a black-top re-seal with "some betterment" ranges from $800,000 to $1 million per kilometre.

The greatest cost savings could be achieved by ripping up bitumen and grading back the gravel, but there are no councillors in NSW prepared to take such an unpopular course of action.

"For low traffic volume rural roads, it can be a better financial outcome for council but it is a tough conversation. Most ratepayers want their roads fixed as bitumen," says Mr Macdonald.

"The only real long term solution is to pay more in rates so service levels can be increased."

Greater use of railways would reduce road loads - and their carbon footprint by 16 times - with the theme discussed at this week's Australian Railway Association rail freight conference in Sydney.

"Australia's total domestic freight task is projected to grow by 26 per cent between 2020 and 2050," says ARA CEO Caroline Wilkie.

"Despite this, a mere two per cent of freight is hauled by trains between Sydney and Melbourne - the busiest freight corridor by volume in the country - and less than five per cent of freight is currently moved by rail between Sydney and Brisbane. Even the critical Melbourne-Brisbane transport corridor has a rail mode share of less than 30 per cent."

Meanwhile, the reality remains that our country road network does the heavy lifting when it comes to handling the goods, yet federal money allocated to maintenance has dwindled over recent decades, with most local government agencies relying on emergency funding - in the wake of destructive heavy rainfall, such as occurred last week. Meanwhile, the wait for that grant funding is getting longer and longer.

"I understand the frustration, anxiety, inconvenience these weather events cause communities and that's why I am pleased to see the NSW and Australian Governments are working to rebuild infrastructure back better," announced NSW minister for regional transport and roads, Jenny Aitchison this week.

"The 2022 flood disaster across large parts of NSW and south-east Queensland was the costliest flood in Australia's history and in April 2024 we are right now also cleaning up from another flood event which has impacted various parts of southern NSW, around the Hawkesbury and Nepean Rivers and in the Blue Mountains.

"The betterment funding scheme being delivered in Northern NSW through the Regional Roads and Transport Recovery Package enables eligible infrastructure damaged in the 2022 floods to be rebuilt by local councils in a way that is stronger and better able to withstand future natural disasters.

"This month we've also unveiled a similar $32 million scheme known as the Regional Transport Resilience Fund to support Forbes, Lachlan, Cabonne and Parkes councils rebuild their infrastructure back better too."

Meanwhile, Narromine mayor Craig Davies says the cost of maintaining roads has increased dramatically in the face of inflationary spending and pegged rates.

The 1500km of rural roads in his shire - half of which are gravel - require utmost attention with less and less money.

"It is difficult to keep these roads up to expectations," he says.

"Emergency funding takes so long to come in that jobs priced 18 months ago bear no resemblance to current estimates."

Mayor Davies predicts "a reconciliation is required" with the value of rural properties increasing three-fold in recent years while council rates, pegged at 3.7pc, have not kept up with the price of inflation.

"We were behind when rates were 3.4pc," he says.

"Federal grants used to be 1pc of gross receipts and now that is 0.55pc and going down every year.

"There is more responsibility put onto local councils with less resources."

Added to the frustration is an inconsiderate public unaware of the reality of council conundrum.

"There is no incentive," he says, "for councillors to represent their communities any more."