Patience call as rain hurts roads

Road damage from wet weather has left Geelong’s council pleading for patience.
City Hall said the “severe and prolonged” conditions had hit the municipality with an “extensive list of road repairs”.
Extreme rains during weeks of wet weather formed a “perfect storm” for road damage, said council city services general manager Vicki Shelton.
Last week generated more than 250 new work orders as forecasts for more wet weather threatened to further compromise chances for repair works, Ms Shelton said.
“Rain of this magnitude can significantly degrade our roads – a sizeable pothole can appear basically overnight.
“The prolonged moisture of the past couple of months had already destabilised the road surface. This latest rain event certainly exacerbated the problem.”
Drivers should be mindful of the conditions and drive accordingly, Ms Shelton said.
“Please remain patient. Leave a few minutes earlier than normal and don’t rush.”
Ms Shelton called on the community to report roads they considered unsafe.
“With a 1700km road network to maintain, we welcome the support of our residents in identifying areas in need of repair.”
Ms Shelton said motorists could use a Geelong City smart phone app to report local road problems or call City Hall’s hotline on 5272 5272, email contactus@geelongcity.vic.gov.au or visit a council service centre.
She also pointed out that VicRoads was responsible for maintenance and repairs on the region’s main arterial roads.
The City said it had four inspectors monitoring over 1700km of sealed and unsealed roads around the municipality.
Council spends budgets of about $14 million a year for road reconstruction and repairs, street sweeping and refresh line marking. Work crews complete about 5000 sealed-road repairs annually, with City Hall operating six asphalt patching trucks across the municipality.
The roads issue follows a separate City Hall call for patience earlier this month as it tried to keep up with roadside growth following recent rains.