Council's Works team has started making a dent in the $20 million allocated to Byron Shire for road programs as part of the NSW Government's $25 million Tourism Impacts Infrastructure Election Commitment.
In Byron Bay Middleton Street, near the public school, now has a brand-new asphalt surface.
"Ask anyone whose children go to the school and they will tell you just how bad that street was," Phil Holloway, Director Infrastructure Services, said.
"Our team has removed the failed surface, which was riddled with potholes, and replaced it with new asphalt and we've received very favourable feedback from community members," Mr Holloway said.
"We didn't stop there – moving onto Kingsley Street where the team worked on the section from Jonson Street to Tennyson Street.
"These works come under the $3.8 million asphalt overlay program which aims to get Council out of the cycle of repairing potholes, only to find they return at the first drop of rain.
"By removing failed road surfaces and replacing with asphalt we are extending their life by approximately 10 years. While there may be the odd repair that is necessary, we definitely won't need to be repairing these new surfaces every couple of months as we were doing with the potholes.
"Ideally we would be reconstructing all these roads from the bottom up but that is an enormous expense, and Council does not have the money – even with the $25 million from the NSW Government," Mr Holloway said.
The Works team will also be targeting Carlyle, Massinger and Ruskin Streets in Byron Bay before moving to Mullumbimby.
"Over the next three years people will see significant road works in the Shire including heavy patching and resealing, as well as asphalt resurfacing," Mr Holloway said.
"Everyone wants their road repaired and my message to them is that we make the decision on what roads to fix, and how to fix them taking into account factors including the volume of traffic using the road, speed limits, integrity of the underlying pavement, whether drainage upgrades are needed and the level of design that is required.
'This is a three year program and we are also continuing to roll out our regular schedule of works so we will be working on roads across the whole Shire," Mr Holloway said.
"Staff and Councillors are incredibly grateful to the Hon. Ben Franklin, Parliamentary Secretary for Energy and the Arts, for his work to secure the $25million election commitment for tourism impacts in Byron Shire" he said.
