Extra roads to maintain
Baw Baw Shire will be responsible for an extra 9.4 kilometres of roads next financial year, at an expected cost of $40,000.
An annual review has resulted in more than 50 roads being added to councils Public Road Register.
Council first compiled its public road register in 2004.
An annual review is undertaken in March and any additions to the register are reflected in the annual routine road maintenance contract.
Officers said this will be negotiated this year with the incoming contractor as part of the transition to the new contract.
The review considers public requests for roads to be included, an internal review, and roads handed over to council following subdivision developments.
An additional 10.191 km of sealed roads were included on the register and 714 metres of unsealed roads were removed.
The register also includes 354km of arterial roads that is managed by the Transport Department.
The report to council said annual maintenance costs per kilometre were $4563 for sealed roads and $5877 for unsealed roads.
Officers said the ongoing net maintenance costs to manage the additional roads was about $42,300.
Roads included on the register as a result of customer requests include McMahons Rd, Nilma North; McLaughlin Rd, Childers; Needham Rd (un-named road),
Willow Grove; and Saviges Rd (unnamed road), Thorpdale.
They are all rural, unsealed roads.
Council’s internal review also will see three sealed roads added including Charlwood Crt, Drouin; Jasmine Crt, Warragul; and Princes Way service road at Drouin. An unsealed and unnamed section of East West Rd will be added.
Forty-three roads have been handed to council as a result of subdivisions.
Cr Darren Wallace said council now had an additional 9.5 kilometres of roads on its public roads register.
He said a majority of the increase in sealed roads were in Warragul and Drouin.
He said it also equated to an extra $40,000 in ongoing road maintenance costs.
Cr Michael Leaney said roads were an important part of what council does.
He said the annual review of the roads register allowed for new roads to be added to council’s public roads register.
Cr Leaney said the majority of new roads were handed over to council as new assets from subdivision.
However, he said some roads were being added in after requests for roads to be reviewed.
“A lot of people assume that because they have a road run past their door it is maintained by council but that is not the case. A lot of unsealed roads aren’t on the register,” he said.