- New Main Roads depot to be established in Onslow
- A total of 31 new and transitioning employees to join Main Roads in the Pilbara
- Depot will provide a base for Main Roads maintenance and construction crews
- Part of Main Roads transition of road maintenance, and some minor capital works back in-house
Road maintenance in the Pilbara will be bolstered with the delivery of a new depot in Onslow and the establishment of 31 new positions within Main Roads Western Australia (Main Roads).
The 31 positions will be filled by new and transitioning employees as part of the State-wide return of road maintenance to Main Roads.
Road maintenance was outsourced from Main Roads by the Liberal National Government in the 1990s.
The new depot will be built on a 2,656m2 property on Beadon Creek Road, Onslow and will be the fourth major base for Main Roads in the region. The new Onslow depot will replace the existing Nanutarra depot, which is no longer serviceable due its remote location.
The Onslow depot, which includes two large sheds, a small office, staff amenities area, and a one-bedroom dwelling, will help reduce operational costs, improve the attraction and retention of employees, along with improving serviceability to the road network in the southern coastal and western areas of the Pilbara.
The 31 new employees in the Pilbara region join more than 270 current employees who have already made the move to Main Roads in the Wheatbelt, Mid-West Gascoyne and Perth metropolitan area.
The new Onslow depot follows the recent purchase of a new depot in Jurien Bay to service the Mid-West Gascoyne Region, the lease of a new depot in Welshpool for the Perth Metropolitan Region's Incident Response Service and Bridge Maintenance Crew, and the lease of a new office in Manjimup, to help service the South-West.
Further improvements to depots and offices around the State are planned to support the transition process.
The Wheatbelt and Mid-West Gascoyne regions transitioned to Main Roads in late 2022, with the Goldfields Esperance region and the Perth metropolitan area transitioning this year.
The Great Southern, South-West and Incident Response services will transition in early 2024, with the Kimberley region in late 2024.
As stated by Transport Minister Rita Saffioti:
"Returning the responsibility for road maintenance back to Main Roads has been a key priority for our Government, and the transition in the Pilbara region is a major milestone as part of those efforts.
"Returning road maintenance to Main Roads will deliver better outcomes for workers, better outcomes for regional economies, and better outcomes for our road network.
"More than 600 new positions will be created within Main Roads to support the return of road maintenance functions, which means more local jobs - and road maintenance crews that are better placed to respond to issues when we need them.
"The establishment of a new depot in Onslow will ensure that we can attract and retain employees in the region and better service the Pilbara road network."
As stated by Pilbara MLA Kevin Michel:
"The return of road maintenance to Main Roads in the Pilbara region will help boost local economies, by creating sustainable and long-term jobs in our communities.
"With the establishment of a new depot in Onslow and the creation of 31 new positions within Main Roads, we will see better response times to issues on our road network."
