The motorists' association used the NSW government's estimate of $8.5 million in lost productivity for every fatality and $500,000 per serious injury to calculate losses for council areas based on their road crash statistics.

Wagga's estimated cost was $244.3 million between 2014 and 2018, equal to $91,761 per kilometre of road within the city council's boundary.

Albury's council area had lower road trauma losses at $140 million but a higher loss rate per kilometre of road at $194,848.

NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said the Riverina 's losses were "alarming".

"When someone loses their life, it's not just the immediate loss it's the loss of economic output and it's the same for a serious injury," he said.

"There's healthcare and welfare as often people can't work.

"The Riverina is not necessarily in the top five regions for losses but you do have consistent losses every over that period and those are alarming statistics."

Snowy Valleys saw $201 million in road trauma losses, Hilltops saw just over $191 million, the Yass Valley saw $185 million and the pre-merger Gundagai council area saw $178 million.

NSW's biggest losses were in the Central Coast at $1.5 billion.

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Mr Khoury said the Riverina stood out as a key area where increased roads funding from the state and federal governments would improve safety and stimulate jobs.

"Fixing regional roads will save lives, provide a much needed boost to regional economies," he said.

Wagga MP Joe McGirr said he supported the call for more road projects in the region.

"[The NRMA report] paints a pretty stark picture and highlights what we have been saying for a long time, that country roads are dangerous and they need attention," he said.

"The state government at the last election announced they were going to take back responsibility for a number of roads in local council areas, and given the situation we have just been through with the bushfires and COVID-19 that process should be accelerated."

Wagga mayor Greg Conkey said authorities had made a lot of progress in the past 25 years in reducing the road toll but every death was still a tragedy.

"We do have a significant maintenance backlog as far as roads are concerned," he said.

"We could spend all our $200 million plus budget on roads and still not catch up.

"I have been agitating for years to increase the level of funding for local roads and it seems to be falling on deaf ears, and I'm sure people have been agitating long before I was mayor."

Riverina MP and federal Transport Minister Michael McCormack said road safety was a "constant priority" and "one death on our roads is too many".

"The federal government has invested $100 billion towards transport infrastructure to help increase safety and reduce the number of deaths on our roads," he said.

"This includes more than $55 billion to be rolled out over the next four years specifically with the aim of reducing road trauma as well as the $2.2 billion Local and State Government Road Safety Package.

"This includes an additional $1.1 billion for the Roads to Recovery program, including nearly $70 million announced in the most recent Budget for the Riverina.

"Road safety will always be an ongoing challenge, but these measures will help to ensure residents across Australia, including those in the Riverina, get home sooner and safer."