The NSW Government is beefing up its bid to patch-up its battling road network with $500 million on offer for both regional and metropolitan councils to help fix the issue.
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The half-a-billion dollar road repair package was announced by NSW premier Dom Perrottet in Molong on Tuesday.
Roads across the state have been hammered by flooding and continual rain throughout 2022, particularly in the Central West.
In some cases, large sections of road have been completely washed away.
In response to that, Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway launched a $50m recovery fund in October, but that was widely panned for being an inadequate allocation of funds.
With the road network becoming worse and a labour shortage meaning work to repair roads is a slow process, Mr Perrottet, deputy premier Paul Toole and Mr Farraway announced a repair package worth 10 times its original value in the heart of Cabonne on Tuesday.
Councils can apply for their slice of the $500m pie this week - with allocations to be determined based on the size of the road network in each Local Government Area.
The process to apply for the funding has also been streamlined, it was confirmed in Molong.
Orange deputy mayor Gerald Power, Cabonne shire mayor Kevin Beatty, Blayney mayor Scott Ferguson and Lithgow mayor Maree Statham were some of the mayors from across the region on hand for the announcement.
It's the premier's third visit to Cabonne since November's devastating floods ripped through Eugowra and Molong.
There's a state election on March 23, 2023.
Nick McGrath
Editor, Central Western Daily
Editor, Central Western Daily
