Internal government documents have recently shown that regional roads are well beyond their 20 year life expectancy, a fact that became truly evident with the flooding events of last year that took the better parts of many roads across the Western Plains. 

The 11.7 per cent of state roads that have been rated as poor or very poor have raised concerns of road safety, being at odds with the 2056 target of zero road fatalities. 

Shadow Minister for Roads John Graham said that the funding shortfalls on maintenance and upgrades of the roads provide a serious danger. 

“More than three quarters of these roads are beyond their minimum lifespan. Billions of dollars have flowed into gold-plated toll roads, while our local roads are potholed, broken and underfunded,” Mr Graham said. 

According to the report, proper maintenance and upgrades to redeem the roads require an additional investment of $805 million for regional and outer metropolitan roads.

While some major roads are designed for a 40-year lifespan, minor roads are designed to last for 20 years.

The ‘Regional and Outer Metropolitan Asset and Service Plan 2021-2022 to 2030-2031’ revealed that 77 per cent of the included roads have exceeded their 20-year life span. 

The plan reveals “One of the greatest challenges is the sustainable replacement of road pavements that have reached the end of their useful life. The current rate of pavement renewal is well below the long-term sustainable target. The average age of pavements is increasing.” 

Shadow Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Jenny Aitchison said that mostly, the regions have been ignored in terms of road maintenance. 

“When regional roads fail, communities are cut off from health, education and work opportunities, and in an emergency, lives are lost," she said. 

Across the Western Plains, shires have emphasised the difficulties in repairing roads throughout the entire shire while remaining in the budget, particularly since the recent floods that saw entire networks damaged at once. 

Warren Shire Council Mayor Milton Quigley said he expects recovery to regions in their shire will be a long process. 

“It’ll take a bit of time to work through to get some maintenance grading happening on all those roads to get them back up to speed,” Mr Quigley said. 

“We’ve had a lot of the edges fall away from the roads, and the wheat harvest that had trucks everywhere was a bit of a double whammy. 

The Minister for Regional Transport and Roads has been unable to be reached for comment.