Road Renewal works bring an asset in poor condition back to its original condition or to prolong the life of the road – improving the condition of the road pavement and reducing ongoing maintenance costs.

The Road renewal program consists of various treatments from lower cost resurfacing to higher cost road rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Works include treatments such as crack sealing, road rehabilitation and resurfacing of the pavement. These renewal works do not provide new infrastructure, such as kerb and gutter or footpaths where they currently do not exist.

This approach allows our road network of over 2,000km, to be managed in a way that uses available funding in an economic and sustainable way.

Council identifies roads for renewal works based on best practice management with consideration to road condition, road classification, traffic volumes, work history and maintenance costs, and uses an advanced Pavement Management System which models the Central Coast road network and produces an improved program, which allows for long term planning.

In July 2024, Council completed a full road network condition survey ensuring we have the most accurate and up to date information possible on every road in the network. We also completed an independent review of our practices to ensure that the way we prioritise road renewal projects and develop road renewal programs is as effective as possible and uses the latest road asset industry best practice and innovation.

Community and Councillors also influenced which roads would be included in the additional $20million road renewal program. Priority lists were gathered from community feedback via online surveys, door knocking and reviews of maintenance and customer enquiries, and then Councillors shaped the final program through workshops to ensure alignment with community priorities, technical criteria and other major projects being delivered by Council, developers or Transport for NSW.
 

Construction cost increases has contributed to a backlog in road infrastructure works – a challenge faced by many Councils.

We have several strategies to address the backlog of work and improve overall road network to better meet community expectations and priorities, such as:

•    Increase investment, with an additional $20 million on road renewal over the next four years 
•    Advocate for more grant funding from Australian and NSW governments
•    Align future budgets with cost forecasting 
•    Use of innovative technologies to reduce the costs of renewal works 
•    Extend the life of completed road renewals 

Upgrades improve an existing asset by adding new infrastructure such as construction of street drainage, kerb and gutter, pathways along with a new road pavement. 

Road and drainage upgrades including requests for new kerb and gutter, pathways and street drainage, are listed for consideration of funding through Council’s Capital Works Program.  

These projects are prioritised against technical criteria which results in a ranking of projects, with highest priority projects generally being considered for an allocation of funding.  This technical criteria includes road pavement condition and risk, traffic volumes and classification, proximity to nearby facilities such as schools, hospitals, CBD and recreational facilities, and environmental benefits. With limited funding, Council is currently concentrating on delivering existing grant and developer contribution plan funded projects (and renewal works).  Presently, little opportunity is available to provide road and drainage upgrade projects outside of these parameters.

New works provide new assets where they did not exist before. Examples include construction of new shared pathways, a pedestrian refuge or traffic facilities or a wharf. These projects generally result from growth of an area, social or environmental needs.