Yarriambiack Shire Council Mayor Graeme Massey says the federal government's commitment of $150 million to improve safety on unsealed roads isn't enough.
The commitment, confirmed by Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce earlier this month, will target unsealed roads throughout remote Australia.
The program will offer councils between 80% and 100% of funding to upgrade unsealed roads and improve safety with works including resurfacing, removing dangerous corners and managing vegetation.
Over 75 per cent of Australia’s road network by length – about 678,000km in total – is owned and managed by local governments, with 61 per cent of these roads unsealed.
Mr Joyce said guidelines for the new program would be released by the end of the year to target unsealed roads more than 20 kilometres long. He said the road toll in regional communities was more than four times greater than in the major cities, and 10 times greater in remote communities.
“There are 2.2 deaths per 100,000 people in the major cities; 10 deaths per 100,000 in regional areas; and 25.1 deaths per 100,000 in remote areas.
“Our regional towns are the lifeblood of our nation, and every Australian deserves safe and efficient roads regardless of where they live.
However, Mayor Massey says the funding is unlikely to scratch the surface of the works that are required to make these roads safer in regional and rural areas.
"My understanding is the funding will be used to make these roads safer. Taking about a bit of vegetation or taking sand off the road surface," Mayor Massey said.
"They (the Federal Government) could spend $150 million in two shires in Victoria and still have more requests for funding. It's not going to go far.
"Then you've got to work out which roads deserve attention and which doesn't. A lot of our dirt roads are only used at harvest time and deteriorate very quickly".
The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) welcomed the pilot program funding announcement.
ALGA President, Linda Scott, commended the program’s focus on delivering safer roads, saying all councils were committed to minimising road trauma.
“Councils are working hard to keep our communities safe on our roads, as one death is simply one too many,” Cr Scott said.
“We welcome this funding as a positive first step to ensuring our roads are safer, in line with the soon-to-be-announced National Road Safety Strategy 2021-30.”
Cr Scott said ALGA’s 2021 National State of the Assets Report – to be launched in December 2021 – indicates that 14 per cent of unsealed roads are in poor condition.
Guidelines for the Remote Roads Upgrade Pilot Program, which will target unsealed roads longer than 20km, will be released by the end of 2021.
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