Queensland government vows to 'do a better job' of maintaining roads with more than $8 billion in work needed
The Queensland government is pledging to get on top of its more than $8 billion maintenance and renewal bill for works needed on thousands of kilometres of state-owned roads.
At a time when those costs are only growing, the government has declared it needs to do more to maintain existing assets.
Those working in the transport industry argue the government should be required to provide roads which are up to scratch, in the same way their vehicles have to be.
Tayla Connolly, who manages a Townsville-based transport company which works across Queensland, pointed out they were required to operate roadworthy vehicles.
"There doesn't appear to be the same requirement statewide for the government to provide us with roads that are safe to travel on for our vehicles,' she said.
Ms Connolly's company runs 26 prime movers which service both private and government customers across rural and remote areas.
She said vehicle maintenance was one of their biggest costs.
"Our bonnets are fibreglass, so any sort of corrugation or shaking will create damage there," she said.
"There's obviously suspension as well, which on some of the rougher roads in Queensland we do see quite a lot of damage to."
Every year, the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) calculates the cost of what it calls the "capital renewal investment needs".
It takes into account the resealing, resurfacing and rehabilitation works needed for pavements on roads, as well as the rehabilitation required for structures, such as bridges.
It does not include routine maintenance jobs, such as pothole patching, minor pavement repairs, or vegetation management.
At the end of the 2023-24 financial year, the department estimated there was $8.63 billion in outstanding renewal and maintenance works with no funding — up from $7.8 billion the year before.
Over the same period, the length of impacted road fell from 11,383km to 10,040km.
The Queensland Transport and Roads Investment Program for 2024-25 to 2027-28 includes $5.23 billion for maintenance, preservation, and operations.
Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg said he wanted to stabilise the cost of outstanding works and "hopefully start to turn the curve and reduce the backlog over time".
"My personal view is we need to do a better job of maintaining our existing assets," he said.
"Politicians love building new things and it's important that we do build new infrastructure, but it's really important that we maintain what we have as well."
Mr Mickelberg acknowledged maintenance works were getting more expensive thanks to increased prices for bitumen and wages.
Despite that, he said the government needed to get on top of the "growing burden" of works, warning it was road users who paid the price.
"They pay the price through either greater congestion, or they pay the price through vehicle damage," Mr Mickelberg said.
"That's the reality of these maintenance backlogs."
The minister said his department prioritised road safety issues.
RACQ's head of public policy Michael Kane said the club's members were constantly complaining about poor road surfaces.
"What that does is cause damage to tyres, suspension, windscreens — all adding to the cost of travelling on Queensland roads," he said.
"Our members are less interested in shiny and new, and they very strongly say to us they want to see the roads fixed, they want to see them properly maintained and extended.
Dr Kane said more damage was being inflicted on Queensland roads due to "extreme" weather events and a growing population.
"The key thing is to have the adequate funding to build back better."
Ms Connolly agreed weather events substantially reduced the effective life of roads and bridges.
"You simply cannot have a road under water for that period of time and expect it to have the same effective life," she said.
TMR expects recent flooding events in Queensland will impact both the short-term condition of roads and the rate of deterioration in the future.
As of May, the department said work was still underway to get detailed damage assessments.
"The initial focus has been on completing emergency repairs to ensure roads can safely remain open while we work on a full reconstruction program," a TMR spokesperson said.
'The recovery works are jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland governments through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.'
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