Road maintenance
Improving our transport system and taking a more sustainable approach to keeping our roads safe and maintained is one of our continued priorities.
There are over 3200 kilometres of roads we maintain in the city and this is growing every year. As our roads get older and traffic increases, more work is required to keep them at a high standard.
The City is constantly trialling the latest technology and innovations to reuse materials in our road pavements. We are paving the way to a sustainable solution by recycling rubber tyres, glass and plastic into our road pavement and reducing landfill. This is all part of our commitment to keeping our city cleaner and greener.
You can view road improvement projects underway on our Projects & works page.
What are we doing about potholes on our roads?
We have a proactive plan to keep our roads maintained, as well as a fast response team to repair potholes and other road issues. We have 7 dedicated crews out in the city’s streets all day, every day, repairing potholes. Additional crews are deployed during major weather events to fix potholes as quickly as possible.
How potholes form
Potholes unfortunately occur on all roads, especially during intense rain periods. They happen when water inundates the pavement and flushes out fine material from the underlying road pavement causing depressions and weak spots. The pothole forms when the weak pavement can’t support the weight of traffic and the pavement breaks up, creating a hole in the road.
Repairing potholes
Potholes are repaired by filling the pothole with asphalt and compacting the material. Depending on the weather conditions, different types of asphalt are used. Potholes repaired during a wet weather event may only be effective temporarily due to limitations on the type of asphalt material which can be used in wet conditions. Further works may be scheduled to do a follow-up repair later in dryer conditions.
Check out our ABC interview with Tom Forbes. Our team share insights into when, why and how potholes are made, repaired and how you can report a pothole to our crew.
How can you help keep our roads a smooth and safe ride?
If you notice a pothole or road damage that is affecting traffic movement or causing danger to the public, please: