The drive through Port Stephens should be a little less bumpy with thousands of potholes having been filled since July.
More than 8,000 potholes have been filled thanks to a run of sunshine and dry weather after the flood events last month. There’s still around 900 left on the list for Council workers to fill and that list is usually only around 50.
Mayor Ryan Palmer said the repair and maintenance of the roads is one of the community’s biggest priorities.
“The most recent damage to our roads has impacted residents, business and visitors alike,” Mayor Palmer said.
“Council has a road network that covers more than 800kms. Our teams are out fixing potholes as quickly as they can but it’s been a huge task,” he added.
Many of our roads were designed decades ago, on old infrastructure in low lying locations where water takes a long time to dry out. Water gets under the road pavement or through cracks in the surface and without very much effort at all, the road opens up and creates potholes.
Mayor Ryan Palmer said Council is excited to launch a series of educational videos, answering some key FAQs to help the community understand how we build and maintain roads and manage our potholes in Port Stephens.
“The information outlines what roads Council is responsible for, how we determine which road we repair next and our process for pothole repairs,”
“The videos found on Council’s website explain the difference between a wet seal and dry seal, why we often have to repair the same pothole more than once and why we rehabilitate roads that look like they don’t need it,” he added.