What you told us about road maintenance

What you told us about road maintenance

Published on 27 February 2020

In August 2019, Council invited the community to review the service levels and response times for all road maintenance activities, including pothole repairs, grading, road inspections and more.

Face-to-face engagement sessions, online surveys and written submissions provided a detailed picture of the community’s views on the current service levels.

More than 80 people were invited to forums in Drouin and Trafalgar in September 2019. Attendees included residents who made S223 budget submissions, and those who routinely interact with Council regarding road maintenance matters.

The Baw Baw Safe Freight Network was also specifically engaged to provide road maintenance feedback.

A total of 330 survey responses were received, revealing the following information:

61 per cent said potholes should be repaired in less than a week. 63 per cent said unsealed road grading frequency should be greater than twice a year. 82 per cent said reported issues should be inspected within five days. 42 per cent nominated ‘fixing isolated defects such as potholes/corrugations’ as the top priority. 88 per cent said Council should expand use of alternative methods to fast-track repairs. 37 per cent said cyclic inspections on urban road should be carried out four times a year, 29 per cent said more than four times a year. 38 per cent said cyclic inspections on rural roads should be carried out more than four times a year.

See more road maintenance survey results at www.bawbawshire.vic.gov.au/RoadMaintenanceSurveyResults

The findings of the community road maintenance review have helped inform the preparation of a new Roads Maintenance Contract.

Over the coming weeks, Council will update the community on the new Roads Maintenance Contract and what the additional investment and service improvements will mean for the community.

Quotes attributable to Mayor Cr Danny Goss

“The community has told us that we need to increase our investment in roads maintenance, and we’ve listened. As a result, Council will increase its investment in annual road maintenance by $2.3 million, and a new Road Maintenance Contract will be prepared that is better in line with community expectations.

“We’ve increased investment as much as possible without impacting on other essential Council services such as infrastructure development and maintenance, planning, and waste management.”

“We’d like to thank the community members who took the time to provide feedback and be part of this important process.”