An expanded program of roads maintenance in the ACT will be backed by research to extend the life of the capital's roads, the ACT government says.
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The government said there would be an up to 150 per cent increase in asphalting to repair roads, while 1.26 million square metres of road would be resurfaced each year an increase of 268,000 square metres. Resurfacing work will be concentrated on arterial and collector roads.
Spending on roads maintenance will grow $42.6 million, or 52 per cent, over the next four years, the government said.
The total roads spending over four years will be worth $153 million, which includes additional funding from the Commonwealth.
Transport and City Services Minister Chris Steel said the increased spending would deliver high-quality road surfaces.
Heavier vehicles, climate change and a population that had grown faster than forecast had resulted in roads deteriorating faster than before, he said.
"It's no secret that roads across south-eastern Australia have taken an absolute battering over the past few years with constant La Nina weather cycles," Mr Steel said.
"Since 2020, Canberra has continued to experience heavy and frequent rain events. In October, we experienced Canberra's wettest month since records began, with more than 2800 pothole repairs undertaken across the territory in that month alone."
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The Commonwealth's local roads and community infrastructure program will contribute $3.6 million to the ACT's road maintenance program this financial year.
"This maintenance program is evidence-based and will have a greater focus on rehabilitation and use of asphalt, as well as ensuring that we continue our focus on preventative resealing," Mr Steel said.
The program would be based on research completed by the Australian Road Research Board, an independent consulting company.
The board's chief executive, Michael Caltabiano, said the research considered the condition of ACT roads and what investment and treatment would be required to maintain them over the coming decades.
"Based on our research, the ACT government has chosen the highest cost and highest quality option which will deliver good road conditions in Canberra over the years ahead," Mr Caltabiano said.
Motorists whose vehicles have been damaged by potholes in the ACT this year have already shared in more than $43,000 of government compensation, already outstripping the number of successful claims made last year.
The ACT government has paid out at least 50 damage claims in 2022, up from 40 last year and 16 in 2020. The government paid out $39,024.85 in 2020 and has so far paid out $43,148.96 this year.
The extra spending on road maintenance follows the Canberra Liberals' announcement the party would not support building light rail to Woden at the 2024 election, instead promising to divert some of the money earmarked for light rail to roads projects.
Mr Steel in November defended light rail funding that came at the expense of "ill-defined" road projects after Labor won the federal election.
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
