The City of Ballarat is investing $4 million to repair sealed roads across the municipality as part of its annual major patching and resurfacing maintenance program.
Now underway, the annual program of works will maintain and improve sections of 70 roads, covering 44,000 square metres, from Ascot to Cardigan Village, Miners Rest and Wendouree through to Warrenheip, Canadian, Sebastopol, Redan and Buninyong.
The City of Ballarat's 2023-24 budget features an increased investment in roads infrastructure, with the major patching and resurfacing program doubled this financial year, up on $2 million from last financial year.
Resurfacing works this week began on 1150 square metres of Tait Street, from Hertford Street to Southern Court, in Sebastopol.
The works will use crumbed rubber asphalt as part of a trial using recycled rubber from tyres - an innovative way to promote sustainable practices while improving durability of the road and minimising cost.
Suppliers provide recycled tyres that have been processed into fine particles, which are then included in the bitumen before it is mixed with the crushed stone. The product is then laid like normal asphalt.
City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Des Hudson said the City of Ballarat's 2023-24 budget features an increased investment in roads infrastructure, with $36.3 million for maintenance and capital road programs, which includes $3 million of Federal Government funding.
"Our annual major patching and resurfacing program will ensure drivers can continue to move around as safely and efficiently as possible," he said.
"The City of Ballarat's investment in road infrastructure demonstrates that we are committed to delivering a better Ballarat."
The City of Ballarat's $2 million annual road reseal program was completed throughout summer and the $11 million road renewal program is now underway.
Major patching is used to repair multiple potholes and failures in the road surface and underlying pavement. This is where a larger section of road is removed and both the surface and pavement are replaced. Asphalt resurfacing involves renewing larger sections of ageing roads with new asphalt.
The annual program of major patching and resurfacing works began in early February and is expected to be completed by May, subject to weather conditions.
The City of Ballarat's inspection team records road issues requiring repair and also receives repair requests from the community. The team assesses the urgency of maintenance and prioritises the works to be carried out as part of each year's program of road maintenance and renewal works.
Potholes, road repairs and road upgrades in the Ballarat municipality on local roads are the responsibility of the City of Ballarat.
Freeways and major arterial roads, such as Sturt Street, Main Road, Creswick Road, Latrobe Street, Howitt Street, Norman Street, Midland Highway, Whitehorse Road, Geelong Road, Albert Street, Skipton Street, Remembrance Drive, Wiltshire Lane and others are the responsibility of VicRoads.
These roads can be found through searching 'Maps of declared roads' at vicroads.vic.gov.au.
View our interactive roadworks map available at ballarat.vic.gov.au/roadworks. This map shows the roads where road maintenance jobs have been completed in the previous six months, the roads where jobs are outstanding, and roads set to receive major programmed works.
The City of Ballarat encourages residents to report any repairs needed to our roads. To request repairs to a City of Ballarat road, visit forms.ballarat.vic.gov.au/ReportIssue, download the Snap Send Solve app to quickly report any road problems to us 24/7 or call Customer Service on 5320 5500.
