BAD weather and potholes have driven the ACT government to announce a 52 per cent increase in road maintenance funding to $153 million over the next four years.

“Since 2020, Canberra has continued to experience heavy and frequent rain events. In October, we experienced Canberra’s wettest month since records began, with more than 2800 pothole repairs undertaken across the Territory in that month alone,” says City Services Minister Chris Steel.

“Increased investment in our annual road maintenance program now will see resurfacing of the network grow by 268,000 square metres a year to cover an area of over 1.26 million square metres resurfaced per year going forward, concentrating on arterial and collector roads.”

The program is based on research undertaken by the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB) to support a new, strategic approach to maintenance that Steel says aims to extend the life of roads through proactive resealing, while undertaking more rehabilitation work including using an up to 150 per cent increase in asphalting.

“With the annual road resurfacing program now underway, this new maintenance program will extend the life of Canberra’s roads by 20 years through additional resealing measures adopted across our rolling roads program,” says Steel.

Minister Steel says the changing climate, heavier vehicles, and greater than anticipated ACT population growth had accelerated road degradation and the likelihood of defects such as potholes.

“It’s no secret that roads across south-eastern Australia have taken an absolute battering over the past few years with constant La Nina weather cycles,” he says.

The new funding includes funding under the Australian Government’s Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program.