Horsham Rural City Council is working hard to repair the municipality's roads following consecutive wet winters and last year's spring flood.
Key to road maintenance in rural areas is the upkeep of roadside drains and culverts – which prevents water from laying over roads or inundating nearby crops.
Council has a crew dedicated to rural roadside drainage maintenance which includes cleaning and shaping drains and cleaning or replacing culverts.
Since last year HRCC's crews have rectified more than 300 drainage defects on rural roads. But there are many more roads that require drainage work.
Infrastructure Director John Martin said while maintenance happened year-round, it usually took a heavy rain event to reveal where the worst problems were.
"We make decisions about where repairs are made first based on the severity of the problems the defective drain is causing based on the priorities identified in our Road Management Plan," Mr Martin said.
"Council acknowledge the community's frustration in relation to the damaged road network and has been working on repairing as many of our roads as possible.
"We have all of our graders working every day they possibly can, weather permitting. Our drainage crew is also working at full capacity.
"We know that there is plenty more work to do right across the municipality," he said.
HRCC maintains only drains located within a Council road reserve. This includes channels and table drains at the side of the road pavement and culverts crossing beneath the road pavement.
Council is not responsible for culverts that allow vehicle access to private land. Each landholder is responsible for providing, maintaining, and replacing these culverts.
Regional Roads Victoria is responsible for maintaining highways and major roads.
Council has allocated $6.8 million to roads in its 2023-24 Budget, with more than $5.5 million assigned for rural roads.
REPORT A DRAINAGE ISSUE
Council encourages residents to report any repairs needed to our roads. To request repairs to a HRCC-managed road, visit hrcc.vic.gov.au/service-request.
