A parliamentary inquiry has been launched into the impact of severe weather events on Australia's national and regional road network.
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Announced on Friday, the federal Standing Committee on regional development, infrastructure and transport will investigate how roads can be built more resiliently to withstand ongoing impacts of climate change and the role of the government in planning.
"The Committee is concerned about the increasing deterioration of the nation's road network, particularly in regional, rural, and remote areas," Committee chair Luke Gosling OAM, MP said.
"The extreme flooding events and other natural disasters across the nation have impacted many Australians, and the Committee is seeking to understand how road planning and construction may be improved."
It comes after the state government announced a $50 million emergency fund for regional and rural councils to help repair roads after many were damaged by floods. Coolamon Shire Council was awarded more than $480,000 to help fix their sealed road system after traffic from both the Newell and the Sturt Highway was diverted through the town.
But Mayor David McCann said the funding was "appreciated" but "not enough".
"Once the Newell Highway closed, and the diversion for traffic east and west fell on Coolamon roads, they started to break up and cause significant damage," he said.
"Whilst that funding is welcome, more thought and funds need to be put into improving the road systems throughout regional NSW."
NSW Minister for regional transport and roads Sam Farraway said they were looking at how to improve state highways like the Sturt and Newell to better prepare them for severe weather.
Visiting Wagga on Thursday, he said he was working with the premier and the Commonwealth to create a new betterment fund for areas including the Central West and the Riverina.
"My view is that we need to build resilience into our road infrastructure," Minister Farraway said.
"There's still a lot of work to do to get the betterment fund up and running, but it is certainly something the the NSW government is working on behind the scenes."
The roads inquiry also intends to investigate possibilities for climate resilient corridors, if using waterproof products would increase the resilience of roads and construction standards that should be required.
Clr McCann said it was a good way to evaluate the state of the roads across the state before embarking on projects to fix them.
"It's important that we have an understanding of what work is needed to bring roads not only in the Coolamon Shire but right across the region up to an acceptable standard," he said.
"I think it's very important that the state government and the federal government contribute to the road network, and that it's done as an overarching approach so there's actually a plan in place."
Wagga City Council was awarded more than $793,000 to contribute towards patching roads, but Mayor Dallas Tout said council was still determining how many roads the funding would cover.
"We're currently assessing and prioritising the areas that will be receiving [the funding] and we're already engaging external contractors," he said.
"It's a statewide issue. This is money to get things going and to kick it off, but it won't finish the story."
Minister Farraway said work had already begun on laying heavy duty asphalt on sections of the Newell Highway.
Written submissions to the inquiry are open until February 28, 2023.