City of Ballarat launches largest road maintenance blitz

The City of Ballarat has launched a $6.294 million major road maintenance blitz to improve local roads.

The 2024-25 program of works is the largest annual investment in Ballarat’s road maintenance and will improve the quality, safety and reliability of the municipality’s road network.

The significant program will span the next five months and will focus on asphalt patching, asphalt resurfacing and bitumen resealing to address issues such as potholes, cracks and road surface deterioration across local roads.

Works are now underway with the blitz set to target more than 340,000 square metres of roads. Crews will start work on key routes such as Dyson Drive in Alfredton, Scott Parade in Ballarat East, Gillies Road in Glendonald, Greenhalghs Road at Bunkers Hill, Blind Creek Road in Cardigan, Buninyong - Mt Mercer Road at Buninyong and Link Road at Wendouree.

City of Ballarat Councillor Tess Morgan said the road maintenance blitz is part of the City of Ballarat’s ongoing commitment to enhancing road safety and supporting the needs of our growing community.

“Maintaining the quality of our roads is a key priority for the City of Ballarat,” she said.

“We understand that our residents rely on safe, smooth and durable roads for their daily commutes, school runs and business operations. This blitz is a significant step in that direction.  

“The road maintenance blitz will repair existing road damage, prevent further deterioration and will extend the life of our local roads.”

The road maintenance blitz represents a significant volume of work, however the City of Ballarat will aim to minimise disruption to residents and businesses, where possible.

Maintenance crews will ensure roads remain accessible wherever possible while advanced notifications will be provided to directly affected residents, ensuring that they are informed of upcoming works.

Traffic control will be in place for all works, with electronic signage for advanced notification on larger projects and detours around some locations will also apply.

Road patching and resurfacing is the removal of the existing road surface and underlying layers, of up to 150mm in depth, that are replaced with a new hot mix asphalt base and surface layer for both small and large areas.

Bitumen resealing is a thin protective wearing layer applied to existing road surfaces, that provides a waterproof layer to protect the underlying pavement.

Resealing also increases road surface skid resistance, providing a new wearing course and extending the life of roads.

The road patching, resurfacing and bitumen programs are carried out annually in drier conditions to ensure the durability of the works.

Not all roads are the responsibility of the City of Ballarat. While the City of Ballarat is responsible for local roads, Transport Victoria is the responsible authority for arterial roads.    

While the City of Ballarat conducts proactive road inspections leading to 75 per cent of road maintenance works, the community is also encouraged to report issues with local roads.

The community can download the Snap Send Solve app to quickly report problems on our roads 24/7, visit ballarat.vic.gov.au or call Customer Service on 5320 5500.