NSW government commit $500 million to fix potholes on flood-damaged roads

Wagga City Council is currently in the process of repairing nearly $2 million of damage caused to the region's road network when the Murrumbidgee River flooded last year.

In a bid to assist councils impacted by the widespread flooding, the state government has made the funding available for repair work across metropolitan and regional roads.

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Premier Dominic Perrottet said the money would be made available to councils within the next few weeks.

"We have listened to councils and we understand the pressure they are under from many months of wet weather," Mr Perrottet said.

"We recognise potholes are a major hazard right now. This critical funding injection will help every council across the state patch up potholes as well as carry out other emergency repair work."

Councils will be able to use the funding to fix landslips, potholes and any other damaged caused to roads by the extreme weather events.

Wagga City Council general manager Peter Thompson said the announcement was good news for the region, following the significant impact prolonged rain and flood events had on the road network.

"We look forward to the quick rollout of this funding to alleviate the considerable costs and workload pressures council has incurred to fix damaged local roads following the unprecedented rainfall and back-to-back flooding in 2022," Mr Thompson said.

Funding will be allocated according to the total length of roads each council manages. This suggests Wagga City Council, who manage a road network which spans nearly 2300 kilometres, could receive a significant percentage of the allocation.

About 56 per cent of the funding is expected to go to regional councils, with priority given to those that experienced major flooding, while the rest will go to councils across Greater Sydney.

Deputy Premier and Regional NSW Minister Paul Toole said the funding will help councils repair "hundreds of thousands" more potholes.

He said over 170,000 potholes have been repaired across regional NSW alone since February.

Minister for Regional Roads Sam Farraway said it will be "simple" for councils to apply for the funding and cash will be made available immediately.

"The new funding will start landing in councils' bank accounts within weeks so work can begin right away on repairing the essential roads locals, tourists and freight operators use every day," Mr Farraway said.

Repairs paid through the funding pool must be completed by the end of December.

The Australian Local Government Association has estimated the total cost of repairing all the roads damaged by flooding events last year to be $3.8 billion.

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