Border region councils plead for more funding to fix devastated roads

While many residents are delighted to see some work being undertaken, councils say they are "heavily reliant" on state funding which isn't always forthcoming, and state action on the roads they manage is often delayed.

In Wantagong east of Holbrook, Jingellic Road, described as the "worst in Greater Hume Shire", is being widened and resurfaced to the delight of locals, but Olympic Highway near Henty south of Wagga is still in a dismal condition, the shire's mayor Tony Quinn said.

Over the Border near Yackandandah, Bells Flat Road, which washed away creating a massive sinkhole in October, is on the verge of being reopened after council repairs, but state-owned Beechworth-Wodonga Road, closed since April when a bridge culvert was found to be damaged, is still closed awaiting work.

Some councils said they are constantly bombarded with complaints about delays in fixing potholes on roads that were out of their hands. Indigo Shire, which has contracted workers to repair Bells Flat Road, said it often faced the wrath of residents about decrepit state-owned roads.

Federation Council mayor Pat Bourke said councils always bore the brunt of complaints about damaged roads and, while the ownership of the road network should stay local, he said more state funding was needed to properly maintain the network.

"The councils are copping the blame but if you're underfunded, you can't do much about it," Cr Bourke said. "Regional councils' rates cover wages, but for major infrastructure, you're so reliant on government grants.

"You're always begging for assistance and, we're not talking about funding for flash roads, we're talking about giving people just access to their properties, safe access.

"We've got 600 kilometres more roads than other councils of the same size, so there are enormous costs associated with maintaining them.

"Councils are pushed into a corner in that they they've only got one or a couple of ways to go and one's by raising rates and other one's through state government funding."

Cr Bourke said responsibility for maintaining the roads was a "delicate balancing act".

"It's the people on the ground in these communities who know the bad roads," he said.

"And so regarding assessments, you can't get anyone better to do that than locals - the work should be done locally - but the money needs to come from somewhere."

A spokesman for Regional Transport and Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison said: "The government has created a new, two-year emergency road repair fund, a $670 million fund over the next two years to ensure that the roads people rely on every single day across regional NSW are up to scratch.

"We will provide an additional investment of $390 million over the next two years, and continue the existing $280 million regional pothole program to ensure there is enough funding available to start the vital work of repairing our regional roads.

"It is no secret that regional roads are in a shocking state of disrepair. This didn't just happen. It happened over a 12-year period."

Indigo Shire mayor Sophie Price said she had advocated for more support for flood-damaged roads at last week's National General Assembly of Local Government in Canberra.

Regarding the Beechworth-Wodonga Road closure Cr Price told The Border Mail: "We have requested that our director of infrastructure provides us with an update from Regional Roads Victoria on a weekly basis because there's now three impairments along that road.

"Driving conditions are becoming more and more dangerous in foggy and icy conditions as we are into winter so we want to know where's it up to and is It stuck somewhere?"

Cr Price said the council had "good communication" with state transport authorities over road repair issues but was dismayed that action on Beechworth-Wodonga Road was stalled.

"We've been getting the same or similar updates for weeks now," she said. "We've reflected back to our director of infrastructure that we might need to do some advocacy at a higher level to try to see what's what's going on.

"We thought that it was going to be given a real priority across the state because of the significance of that road and sure things would have been happening by now."

Wodonga Council says 79 per cent of roads in its LGA are council-managed with the remainder looked after by the state. In Albury, the council manages 97 per cent (555 kilometres) of roads in its LGA, with NSW managing the remaining 17 kilometres.

"Under the Pothole Maintenance and Repair Program we received a total of $193,000 in grant funding, this has been fully expended," an Albury Council spokeswoman said.

"Since October 2022 we have carried out around 12,500 road repairs, 99.2 per cent were potholes and 0.8 per cent were heavy patching."

Greater Hume Council said it managed 2244 kilometres (92 per cent) of the LGA's roads and that there was "significant work happening on Jingellic Road" with the help of funding from the previous NSW government before the May election.

"The funding issue is quite a concern because the indications from the new government is that it's pretty city-centric and I suppose that's where the major votes come from," Cr Quinn said.

"We've got to get state governments, whichever political persuasion they are, to look at the whole infrastructure across the state."

"In about the next six weeks we're going to catch up with government ministers, I hope, and put forward a solid case; it's not an 'airy fairy' case, we're going to present actual facts. Let's give them valid reasons why they should be supporting our claims."

A NSW Transport Department spokesman said it had been working with the council to carry out resealing work and heavy patching on the Olympic Highway between Albury and Wagga Wagga.

"Transport for NSW crews are continuing to work to assess, prioritise and repair those roads ... and thanks the community for its patience." the spokesman said.

"Work is being carried out to reseal the last of the heavy patches on the Olympic Highway immediately north of Uranquinty. This final section requiring repair between Uranquinty and Wagga Wagga is expected to be completed by the end of next week, weather permitting.

"Since January, three sections of heavy patching work have been completed on the highway between Culcairn and the Hume Highway intersection, along with a number of smaller sections between Wagga Wagga and Albury.

"Additionally, we have resealed about 11 kilometres of road surface on the Olympic Highway between The Rock and the Hume Highway Junction."

Kurrawamby resident Winnie Bulle said she was delighted to see work under way on Jingellic Road.

"My husband is really looking forward to the road being widened, even before they started, he was always talking about 'when are they going to widen it', but he's very happy now," she said.

"We came over from Sydney and live very close to here in Kurrawamby, but it's great they're doing this - it will make it a lot safer for me and my kids and a lot of other people."

At Bells Flat Road, retiree Kevin Beck, who lives on an elevated block just above where the road washed away seven months ago, said he was horrified watching what happened after the sinkhole opened.

"When that hole opened up we knew it was there under the muddy waters, but we watched cars driving through the floodwater and their wheels were going within about 20 centimetres of the hole, right on the edge," Mr Beck said. "It could have been a tragedy, or several tragedies."

A few houses up, new resident Myranda Thomas said she was happy to see work progressing.

"I'm so pleased that it's getting fixed," she said. "We've only been here a month so we weren't here when the road opened up.

"It's been a hassle going around it to get into town so I'm glad to see Indigo council is fixing it, it will be nice to be connected to the town."

Resident Helen Zoudlik said while she was relieved to see the road finally fixed, she dreaded the "return of the hoons".

"I work in Beechworth so it's been a bit of a hassle getting in there, it's been annoying so it's good to see the council fixing it," she said. "Well, it's good and it's bad - good to be connected again, but bad because the hoons will be back.

"The speed limit is 50 but people fly past here at 100, so it's not safe. If they're going to fix the washed out road, they should also put speed bumps in."

Cr Price said the council was aware some residents were concerned about some drivers not adhering to speed limits on the road.

"We appreciate that the residents on that road have been patient with us (regarding repairs), because it was a resolution that took some time," she said. "If there are any traffic calming measures that need to be put in place, they should make representation to council and and we can even raise that through our local police safety committee."

The Victorian transport department was contacted for comment.

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