There’s “the big dipper” at Toukley, “the kamikaze” at Killarney Vale and the “double whammy” at Wyoming Rd and they are destroying car tyres and suspensions all over the Central Coast.
Potholes! They are being photographed, name and shamed in Facebook pages and other forms of social media with. There is even a “Pothole hotline” at Council.
The Coast has more than 40,000 potholes, thanks to combination of a wet climate, unusual topography and poor roadmaking and repairs.
Now, the Member for The Entrance David Mehan has had enough. He said his office had been inundated with complaints about local roads and footpaths across the region.
He has made representations to the Minister for Regional Roads and Transport as well as the Minister for Infrastructure, Cities and Active Transport regarding the state of roads and footpaths on the Central Coast.
“Coast roads have become a pothole frenzy and safety is being compromised by motorists trying to avoid damage to vehicles,”
“My office has been inundated with resident concerns about increased rates and decreased amenity. The State Government needs to provide any available funding to Central Coast Council to maintain its roads and fix its potholes.”
Mr Mehan said the wet weather had also raised awareness of the lack of footpaths in the region.
“Footpaths are an essential amenity. Without them people are sinking into the mud.”
“Footpaths should be readily available across the Central Coast. The State Government should provide funds to ensure the construction of footpaths continues- it is imperative.”
“The amenity across the Central Coast is diminishing due a to lack of funding. This should be addressed immediately.”
“The State Government needs to step up and assist Council in its ability to discharge its duty to residents of the Central Coast and any assistance I can provide in making this happen I will continue to do so.
“Our residents deserve better. They’re paying increased rates and at the moment receiving little return. This needs to change.”
However, Council claims there is finally light at end of tunnel for the marathon task of repairing potholes.
Since February, Council has filled 32,000 potholes that were a result of intense and continued rainfall which created an unprecedented number of potholes.
A spokesperson said only temporary repair works could be undertaken during wet weather, which is why potholes can reappear within only weeks of repair.
Despite the high level of repairs undertaken to date, as of the end of May approximately 8108 outstanding potholes were still waiting for repair across the region’s 2000km road network.
“As with other LGAs, the scale of the potholes occurring in such a short timeframe outstripped availability of Council’s resources of staff and equipment to service the repairs in a faster manner.
“Additional staff from other areas of Council, plus contractors, have been engaged to help undertake the work during and outside of business hours.
“Repairs are prioritised by level of safety risk, with roads that carry a higher volume of traffic prioritised over less trafficked local roads such as cul-de-sacs and they are also undertaken across the region in a systematic area-by-area approach - which provides greater efficiencies so more potholes can be filled faster.
“We acknowledge the community’s frustration with the level of potholes and want to assure resident’s that all efforts are being made to ensure the road network and associated infrastructure is fit-for-purpose and keeps our community safe.”
Potholes can be reported to Council’s 24/7 Online Customer Service Centre which is linked to Council’s website www.centralcoast.nsw.gov.au
Council Administrator, Rik Hart said a large percentage of Council’s operating budget was invested in roads.
“Now that we have longer-term stability of our rates revenue, Council can carefully reinvest in services where we are not currently meeting community expectations of service levels, for example into our vast road network,” Mr Hart said.
He said Council had short, medium, and long-term strategies to manage and prevent potholes.
