Roads in the region

Roads in the region

Council is responsible for over 3,000km of sealed and gravel roads across the region.

To protect and prolong the life or our roads, Council works with a number of bodies including Transport for NSW and the Mid North Weight of Loads Group, as well as managing our own regular maintenance programs.

The Local Traffic Committee and Transport Working Group provide technical advice and guidance to Council on a range of initiatives to raise public awareness and improve the safety of the region's roads.

We regularly update LiveTraffic with major road works. We recommend checking there as your first point of call. You can also see the status of these major roadworks here. 

Road Maintenance Programs

There are over 1,900 km of unsealed roads in the Council region, and Council has several crews that inspect and maintain these roads. We also replace gravel on roads (re-sheet) that are in poor condition.

See below for Council's weekly unsealed maintenance grading schedule:

Week commencing 25/9/2023

Crew 1 Warrabah Road Maintenance Grading Crew 2 Crow Mountain Road Maintenance Grading Crew 3 Duri Wallamore Road Maintenance Grading Crew 4 Limbri Weabonga Road Maintenance Grading Crew 5 Rocky Gully Road/Airlie Road Maintenance Grading Crew 6 Hanging Rock Lookout Road Maintenance Grading Crew 7 Kilmarnock Road Gravel Renewal  Crew 8 Back Limbri Road Gravel Renewal

*All work is dependent on weather conditions and unforeseen circumstances.

Tamworth Regional Council is the road authority for more than 1,200 kilometres of sealed regional and local roads. To keep these roads in good condition, Council has several sealed road maintenance crews that regularly inspect and repair roads where needed. We also re-seal many roads each year. It is very important that no vehicles are parked on streets on the day that re-sealing works are to take place. Council will notify you a few days in advance of any re-sealing works which may be planned for your street with a flyer delivered to your letterbox, to allow you to make any necessary arrangements.

See below for Council's weekly sealed road maintenance works schedule:

Week commencing 25/9/2023

Crew 1 Pavers Queen Street Barraba Minor Works Crew 2 Pera - Linton Road Shoulder Works Crew 3 Heavy Patching around Manilla Minor Works Crew 4 Wallamore Road Minor Works  Crew 5  Corner North Street and Napier Street Minor Works

Council’s road and drainage structures have experienced significant damage as a result of the unprecedented and recurring rain and flood events, particularly in November 2022.

Approximately $10 million will be spent repairing roads in the Tamworth region over the next 12 months, with Tamworth Regional Council contracting four extra graders and four road crews in addition to Council’s maintenance crews to tackle the extensive damage to the region’s 3000 kilometre road network.

Most of the road damage sustained is scattered and patchy, with potholes appearing sporadically across the road network. As a result, road repairs will be prioritised based on safety risks, extent of damage, and the amount of traffic regularly using a road. Council will also ensure road crews are working efficiently by tackling multiple jobs at a location where possible.

See below for Council’s major road repairs projects:

Location Works Description  Works Status Appleby Lane Culvert scour repairs Complete Babbinboon Road road scour and resheeting Under Construction Barry Road Large landslips repair, sidetrack remediation, drainage improvements, road rebuild (road closed to articulated heavy vehicles Wednesday 29 March - Friday 31 March from 7am-5pm. One lane will be open with minor delays).  Design Phase Bendemeer Station Road Scour repair and drainage improvements Under Construction Betts Lane major scour repairs and drainage improvements Under Construction Burgmanns Lane  Major road repair and roadside drainage improvements Under Construction Danglemah Road Major road repair, drainage improvement works and culvert scour repair Complete  Davidsons Lane Causeway  Major upgrades  Under Construction Dungowan dam Road Waterway scour and road repair Complete George Street Moonbi Major headcut repair and watercourse correction, major causeway repair and road repair Scoping and Procurement Inlet Road Major Causeway repair works Under Construction James Street  Major Causeway Repair Scoping and Procurement Langens Lane Major Causeway repair, headcut treatment and road repair Scoping and Procurement Lindsay Gap Road  Shoulder Grading and pavement repair Complete Moonbi Gap road Culvert and Road repair Under Construction New England Gully Road

Roadside scour repair, pipe culvert scouring and repair, pavementand seal repair

Under Construction Nowendoc Road Port Stephens cutting repair works and stabilisation, pavement repairs and shoulder grading/drainage                  Complete Nundle Road Shoulder Grading and pavement repair Under Construction Rocky Gully Road  Major Causeway Repairs Scoping and Procurement Shearins Bridge  Road seal and guardrail repair Under Construction Somerton Bridge  Scour remediation Under Construction Tilsons Culvert - Old Winton Road Road approach and scour repair Scoping and Procurement Watsons Tilmunda Causeway Major Causeway repair works Design Phase Yangarra Road Major roadside scour repair Under Construction Watsons creek road Major culverts repair Under Construction

Major Roadworks will also be taking place over the next 12 months where flood damage has been extensive.

Report a pot hole or road maintenance concern

Reporting the issue on the MyTRC App is the fastest and most reliable way to ensure your road concern is resolved as quickly as possible.

Alternatively, you can report a pothole or other road concern directly on 1300 733 625 or contact Tamworth Regional Council via this online form.

If you can’t report it straight away, take a photo and note the location.

If you have sustained damage to your vehicle on one of our roads, find further information about whether you are eligible to claim for compensation here.

  FAQs 

Why do potholes happen, can’t we prevent them?

Potholes happen when the road seal cracks and water gets under the road surface. Due to significant rain that we’ve had recently, this is becoming a problem right across the region. We are working hard to stay ahead of that.

We know that pothole repairs are a temporary solution, but it’s one of those jobs that needs to be done while we plan the reconstruction of our worst roads.

Because the seal has cracked, when a pothole happens in one area, it is possible another may occur nearby.

Why do other areas have better roads than us?

Road maintenance is an issue for all councils. Residents in other regions experience the same frustrations.

Like many towns across NSW, Tamworth has faced significant rain (post drought) and other extreme weather events over the last 12 to 18 months. Effective maintenance is being made more difficult due to this as our resources are being pulled to wherever the most urgent work is required. We are however dedicating increased resources to avoid significant weather events impacting our regular maintenance schedule.

What is resealing?

Most of our sealed roads are “spray sealed”. This is when a thin layer of sticky bitumen and stone is placed over the road pavement to protect it from water – the same way a coat of paint protects steel.

Over many years the bitumen starts to get brittle and can crack. If this happens, and water gets into the pavement, we start to see potholes suddenly appearing. If the road pavement is still strong and smooth, we can avoid potholes by “re-sealing” with fresh bitumen and stone. This should keep the water out and give us another 10-15 years of smooth driving.

Although most people prefer “smooth” asphalt roads, a spray seal cost about one quarter the price, so we will keep using spray seals on most of our roads so that we can stretch our rates dollars further.

What is Tamworth Regional Council doing to fix the problem?

We are currently allocating increased resources.

With the additional funding the community can expect to see a ramp up in road maintenance in the coming months. We will be engaging, effective immediately, four additional contract maintenance crews on our unsealed roads. They will be grading roads, clearing drains, and helping our Council crews to get our rural roads working well. We will also be investing in our sealed roads, with more resealing and reconstruction work than ever before.

Load Limited Bridges

There are a number of bridges across the region that are subject to weight restrictions. Council has provided a list and map of these load limited bridges and details of the restrictions that apply to them.

Click here to download a map of load-limited bridges (PDF 2.8MB)

Name of Bridge  Road Name  Locality  Load Limit Value  Speed Limit Value  Heavy Vehicle Sidetrack Installed  Comments  Walters Bridge Kelsos Lane Bithramere Closed N/A Yes   Clearance Heights

As at 2

Road Name  Structure Clearance Height Detour/Restrictions Marius Street Rail Viaduct Road 3.3m Detour via Peel Street/Darling Street/Marius Street Peel Street 5.0m Ebsworth Street 5.3m Warral Road and Sale Street Gunnedah Road overpass 5.6m   Murray Street Murray Street rail overpass 4.5m   Off Warral Road Duri "duck-under", Warral Road 2.2m Low vehicles and dry weather passable only. Heavy Vehicle Routes

Click here to access the RMS Heavy Vehicle Routes map

Road Safety Education

Click here for information on road safety

Local Traffic Committee

Transport for NSW is the legislated body responsible for the control of traffic on all NSW roads but it delegates certain aspects of the control of our regional and local roads to Tamworth Regional Council.

Council also plays an important role in the management of road networks by providing traffic input and advice where necessary.

There are guidelines and policies that enable Council to exercise the traffic functions delegated to us by Transport for NSW.

As part of the management of traffic on a local scale, a Local Traffic Committee (LTC) exists primarily as a technical review committee, which advises Council on some matters.

While the committee has no decision-making powers, any traffic related matters Council wishes to consider must first be referred to the LTC for their recommendation.

The committee is made up of representatives from Council, New South Wales Police, Transport for NSw and the local State Member of Parliament.

  Traffic Management for Special Events

Click here for more information on traffic management for special events