When the NRMA wanted to shine the spotlight on the potholes in Canberra's roads in Civic on Thursday, it had to draw a picture of one. The real things are actually pretty thin on the ground.
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Alan Evans, the NRMA director for the ACT and Southern Region, was part of an association delegation that had closed off Scotts Crossing as part of its ''Demand Better Roads'' campaign. He was hard-pressed to provide The Canberra Times with concrete examples of poor road maintenance, such as monster potholes similar to the one drawn by chalk artist Rudy Kistler, within the boundaries of the territory.
''Yes, parts of Canberra have got good roads, but other parts don't,'' he said. ''In the days before self-government there was a lot of money spent on roads in Canberra; post self-government, there are competing demands, so the roads don't have the sorts of [design] features we used to have in the past, and some of the roads are quite unsafe.''
Mr Evans said the major issues for ACT residents were increasing traffic congestion, especially on thoroughfares such as the Barton and Monaro highways, and dangerous curves on the Kings Highway to the coast.
He said the Gungahlin Drive Extension had been a ''classic example'' of poor planning compromising public safety. ''It was a single lane where it should have been a double lane, given the traffic demand,'' he said.
Gungahlin Drive also has maintenance issues. ''I had my hairdresser berate me the other day,'' Mr Evans said. ''He'd hit a pothole and lost the spoiler off his car; he was not a very happy camper.''
According to the NRMA, the fuel levy and other taxes paid by motorists are being used to subsidise other government activities, not just motoring-related projects.
''Motorists put $15 billion in from the fuel excise each year,'' Mr Evans said. ''About $3 billion comes back for roads.''
Asked to name Canberra's worst pieces of road he cited the Barton and the Kings highways. ''The Barton, in the short term, needs more passing lanes,'' he said. ''But in the longer term it is going to have to be dual carriageway.''
Road alignment works have recently been completed on the Barton near Yass and a similar works program has just commenced near Murrumbateman. The highway is a double-lane, divided road from the ACT border near Hall to where it meets Northbourne Avenue. Mr Evans, a Duffy resident, said congestion was becoming a real issue and that given the long lead time on road construction projects, work needed to start now before really serious problems emerged.
