Inadequately-maintained roads and bridges can have serious road safety outcomes. The 2015 State of the Assets report, commissioned by ALGA, estimates that around 11% of local government transport assets, with a replacement value of around $20 billion, are in poor or very poor condition and in need of urgent maintenance and/or renewal.
Maintaining the local road system is one of local government’s major tasks. In most councils, it is the single largest item of expenditure. However, successive studies commissioned by ALGA consistently show an infrastructure backlog and an underspend within the local government sector of at least $1.2 billion per annum.
Continued construction, repair and upgrade of local roads and bridges plays a key role in improving the safety on local roads, benefitting all families and communities.
ALGA is advocating for safety on local roads to be boosted by:
- increasing the Roads to Recovery Program funding (R2R) to $800 million per annum to more sustainably manage local government’s component of the national road network, and
- making the Bridges Renewal Program permanent to more sustainably manage council bridges.
By doing this, the Federal Government could see a $1.71 billion cumulative Gross Domestic Product benefit by year 3 and 4,000 new jobs.
Find out more about this and other federal election initiatives from ALGA at www.allpoliticsislocal.com.au