Potholes and shoddy roads spark calls for more action

The Riverina’s potholed and deteriorating road conditions have been described as a “monumental problem” by Wagga Wagga City Councillor Richard Foley, who said the state of our roads had become a national issue.

“There needs to be an almost multi-billion dollar effort to try and resolve it,” Cr Foley said. “Just doing little bits and pieces is not going to fix these roads, they need a complete upgrade.”

Cr Foley said residents were constantly complaining about road conditions.

Some have even taken matters into their own hands, urging Riverina councils to fix the roads.

Last year ‘Griffith Pothole Vigilante’ Michael Crump sprayed paint marks next to potholes he believed needed to be fixed.

Mr Crump said he took action out of frustration over a multi-million dollar road that had failed even before it was finished.

“It was also an occupational health and safety issue,” Mr Crump said.

The former council worker of 25 years was taken to court by Griffith Council and charged with vandalism for spray-painting the marks.

Mr Crump, who is recovering from prostate cancer, pleaded guilty but was not convicted by Griffith Local Court, which put him on a conditional release order for six months.

Riverina MP Michael McCormack recently urged the Federal Government to provide a funding boost to councils to repair damaged roads, which pose a significant safety risk to regional road users.

“Relentless rain and flooding has led to many regional roads falling into severe disrepair, and the expected deluge this week will only exacerbate the problem,” Mr McCormack said.

“I have recently driven on many regional roads and spoken to several regional mayors, and they all agree the streets have never been worse – anywhere you go.

“Road safety has to come first, and this Government needs to understand regional people rely on our roads to get to and from work, to take their children to school and sport or other activities.”

Mr McCormack said he was more than happy to give the Minister for Infrastructure Transport and Regional Development a tour of the roads around the Riverina electorate to highlight how desperate the situation had become over the past few months due to heavy rainfall and flooding.

Mr McCormack said some councils were already seeking special rate variations to help cover the cost of repairing roads.

“With costs of living escalating, the last thing people need is to be slugged with a rate hike,” Mr McCormack said.

“Rising rates is an unpalatable option when mortgages, rent, petrol prices and grocery bills continue to escalate with no real plan from this Government to ease the pain on families and businesses, which have also had to endure the harsh health and economic effects of a global pandemic.”

Mr McCormack said an emergency road repair program would complement the highly successful Local Roads and Community Infrastructure program and ongoing funding through the Roads to Recovery program.

“Now is not the time to cut funding for the regions,” Mr McCormack said.

“The Nationals in government provided record funding to local councils to give them the autonomy to improve local roads based on local needs, and I call on the Federal Government to build on this commitment to ensure these dangerous road conditions are fixed as soon as possible.

“With the October Budget coming up and country roads in a terrible state, there’s never been a more appropriate time for this funding.”

However, Cr Foley said even though the “Nationals are saying record funding” people only have to look at the state of the regional roads in NSW.

“Other than Pearson Street and Dobney Avenue, I don’t see any other significant National Party spending in Wagga,” he said.

“They say things all the time, but we don’t see the proof, and the problem is Wagga is safe, and they never felt the necessity to fund the infrastructure properly.”

Cr Foley said he wanted to know where the consolidated revenue collected from the fuel excise was spent.

“Every dollar spent, 46 cents of that is supposed to go into a fund for the roads … that would have to be hundreds of billions a year.

“Where is it all going?

“I believe there needs to be an audit with the fuel excise. I’d love to know where all that money is going.”