The NRMA has called for urgent action to help Maitland City Council clear a $67 million backlog of repairs on local roads.
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This call came in an NRMA report that said all Hunter councils needed help to clear the $360 million backlog of road repairs.
The report also said councils across NSW needed $3.2 billion to maintain local roads to a safe condition.
More than 10 per cent of this backlog was in the Hunter, the report said.
Lake Macquarie had a $93 million road repair shortfall.
“Maitland needs $67 million, Newcastle’s backlog is more than $17 million and Cessnock’s was $9.5 million,” the report said.
NRMA president Kyle Loades said the damage caused by last month’s devastating super storm and consequent flooding would impact heavily and exacerbate councils’ already hefty maintenance backlogs.
“Our thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives and the many more whose homes were lost or severely damaged in recent storms,” Mr Loades said.
“Yet when the storm damage is repaired, the problem of deteriorating local roads will remain unless councils are assisted.
“People will continue to be exposed to unsafe roads.”
The NRMA called for a greater contribution from the fuel excise to help councils to fund roads.
The fuel excise raised $15 billion last year, yet only $6 billion of that was spent on the nation’s roads, the report said.
It revealed that from 2008 to 2013, 1480 people were killed and 100,413 injured on council roads across the state.
