| Light at end of tunnel for marathon task of repairing potholes |
At the end of May, Central Coast Council had identified 8,108 potholes across the region’s 2,000km road network still needing repair.
This was despite more thn 32,000 potholes filled since February.
Council expects to fill the remaining holes by the end of June.
But Council said the intense and continued rainfall had created an unprecedented number of potholes and only temporary repair works could be undertaken during wet weather.
Council said this was why potholes could reappear within only weeks of repair.
Director Infrastructure Services, Boris Bolgoff said Council has prioritised pothole repairs and put in place measures to address the issue as soon as possible.
“The good news is that Council staff have now completed pothole inspections across the 2,000km road network,” he said.
“We have also secured more resources to repair the remaining potholes and anticipate clearing the backlog within a month. “
He said this would then see a return to pre-storm service levels provided the weather conditions remained clear.
“As with other LGAs, the scale of the potholes occurring in such a short timeframe outstripped availability of Council’s resources of staff and equipment to service the repairs in a faster manner,” he said.
“Additional staff from other areas of Council, plus contractors, have been engaged to help undertake the work during and outside of business hours.
“Repairs are prioritised by level of safety risk, with roads that carry a higher volume of traffic prioritised over less trafficked local roads such as cul-de-sacs, and they are also undertaken across the region in a systematic area-by-area approach.”
He said this provided greater efficiencies so more potholes could be filled faster.
He acknowledged the frustration in the community about the number of potholes and said the best way to help was to report the holes.
Administrator Rik Hart said Council strategically plans road and drainage works as part of the annual capital works program, which also draws on grant funding and Developer Contributions to help towards the significant cost to maintain and improve the road network.
He said Council was exploring further opportunities to obtain funding associated with natural disasters to help with road restoration works.
