Are potholes driving Canberra motorists potty? Roads are cracking under the strain of recent rain, and the Canberra Liberals claim that Canberrans are frustrated with large, untreated potholes across the ACT that damage cars. They have the ACT Government in their crosshairs – or are these potholes pot shots?
Nicole Lawder, Shadow Minister for City Services, accused the Labor-Greens Government of offering band-aid solution patch jobs rather than properly fixing potholes.
“While the Labor-Greens Government ‘talks the talk’ on potholes, the reality is that cars are almost disappearing into large dangerous holes on our roads,” she said.
“Instead of talking about fixing potholes, how about the government ensure that sufficient resources are allocated to this area, so that Canberrans don’t have to keep forking out for car and tyre repairs arising from close encounters with potholes,” Ms Lawder said.
An ACT Government spokesperson stated they had stepped up their pothole filling work in response to recent wet weather.
“We appreciate the community’s patience as we respond to the unusually high number of potholes on Canberra’s road network at present due to weather.”
Road pavements deteriorate over time due to the impact of traffic and environmental factors such as heavy rain, the spokesperson said. Following a wet winter, Canberra saw unusually high rainfall in spring, including the wettest November on record. These rainy conditions continued through summer.
This week, road crews patched asphalt in Isaacs (Long Gully Road) and Oaks Estate (Oaks Estate Road), and urgently repaired parts of Sulwood Drive at Kambah/ Wanniassa on Saturday, 8 January. They resealed roads on Gowrie and Kambah streets, and resurfaced roads in Reid (Gooreen Street) and Watson (Knox Street). They are repairing potholes on Pialligo Avenue, Hindmarsh Drive, and the Monaro Highway.
Ms Lawder, however, pointed to untreated dangerous potholes across the city.
“For example,” she said, “Sulwood Drive alongside Mt Taylor is in an appalling condition. Some potholes have been recently filled, and with more rain, are already crumbling again.
“In one case, a ‘hazard ahead” sign has been put into place where a hole is so large that you can hear the noise of cars scraping into and out of it, or else cars must veer onto the other side of the road to avoid the hazard.”
Other areas include the Barton Highway, Mugga Lane (near Hindmarsh Drive), and Jerrabomberra Avenue; a Liberals spokesperson thought there were few suburbs without substantial potholes.
“This is just another example of how this Labor-Greens Government is failing to address basic city services, and Canberrans deserve much better,” Ms Lawder said.
“We endeavour to respond and make safe potholes of immediate safety concern, subject to weather conditions (usually within 48 hours),” the government spokesperson responded.
At the beginning of 2021, the government invested an additional $4 million in surge funding to undertake reactive repairs, the spokesperson said. More than 6,000 potholes were repaired last financial year, and more than 4,500 potholes to date in this financial year.
The government’s annual road resurfacing program helps ensure roads remain safe and in good condition, the spokesperson continued. This year’s $19.5 million program began in November, and will resurface 925,000 square metres of Canberra roads to make them “safer, smoother to drive on, and extend their lifespan”.
Identifying potholes involves both inspections by ACT Government officers and reports from the community, the spokesperson said. Works are packaged to address immediate safety concerns and arterial roads as priorities.
Motorists can report potholes through the Fix My Street online platform.
