Pothole blitz and major road repairs for New England

On Monday, the New England Times reported on the overwhelming need to rethink rural roads with calls from across the region to fix our unsafe roads.

Today, the NSW Government has announced a fast-tracked pothole blitz across regional New South Wales, and committed to major works on the New England Highway, Oxley Highway, and Waterfall Way.

The NSW Government has accelerated the delivery of $155 million to repair potholes and undertake road renewal projects, bringing forward funds initially planned for 2025-26.

The move increases state road maintenance funding in the regions to $1.25 billion this financial year, with works already underway.

This funding is about making regional roads safer, more reliable and fairer— because every community deserves roads they can depend on to get to work, school and home. This investment will deliver safer roads, from Broken Hill to Bega, ensuring that regional communities get their fair share of road maintenance investment.

The $155 million has been brought forward to 2025-26 to prioritise renewal projects, including key corridors that have been under significant pressure due to unprecedented weather. Projects include:

• Pavement renewal and resurfacing on major highways – including the New England Highway
• Key bridge maintenance and renewal works across regional NSW
• Continued slope restorations across a number of our east-west corridors such as Waterfall Way, Oxley Highway. 

Councillor Rick Firman OAM, NSW Country Mayors Association Chair, welcomed the commitment.

“This is really good news and we warmly thank Minister Aitchison for this significant further investment in our regional, remote and rural communities.

“Obviously our local citizens will be the ultimate beneficiaries of our Government’s decision to prioritise the road network in the bush, which is effectively our lifeblood.”

Maintenance crews have clocked nearly four million hours of work in the past 12 months undertaking work including:

• Trimming 53,000 trees for improved safety.
• Repairing 35,000 guideposts.
• Refreshing more than 280,000 kilometres of line markings

Some 150 new permanent staff members have been hired, taking Transport for NSW’s locally-based regional maintenance team to more than 2,000 workers. Another 75 regionally-based apprentices and trainees will start in 2026.

“The people and businesses of NSW rely on our road network,” Minister for Roads and Minister for Regional Transport Jenny Aitchison said.

“Long after storms or bushfires pass, recovery continues for our teams. Whether plugging potholes or undertaking massive multi-year infrastructure rebuilds, the work never ends.”

“I want to thank all our frontline road recovery and maintenance crews. Their nearly four million hours of work is an investment in the future of NSW to ensure a safe, strong and reliable network for motorists, commuters and freight operators.”

The NSW Government says continues investing in regional road infrastructure to build a stronger, more resilient network for NSW communities. This build on reforms to put road repair funding in the hands of councils sooner by providing upfront grants – rather than forcing councils to fund the work and then reimburse them. More than one third of regional NSW Councils have already signed up to get funding faster.

The Government is also streamlining road recategorisation so councils can apply to transfer roads to state funding responsibility.

“Regional and rural communities deserve their fair share of investment and upgrades to local roads – this announcement is about getting money out the door and boots on the ground sooner rather than later,” Premier Chris Minns said.

“Following droughts, bushfires and floods we are hearing loud and clear that there needs to be more done to repair damaged roads and keep communities connected in the wake of natural disasters.

“We’ve made a start, but we know there’s still more to do and that’s what this accelerated funding will help deliver.”