The road map we should all be watching

EDITORIAL

It’s not often we see broad support for a Council initiative, from residents to councillors to senior management, but the newly released 10-Year Road Renewal Map from Central Coast Council is shaping up as one such rare achievement.

The interactive online tool, now live on Council’s website, offers residents a clear, suburb-by-suburb look at where and when road works are planned across the region.

It’s a refreshingly transparent move from a council that has been under pressure in recent years to improve communication and service delivery, specifically when it comes to roads.

Road maintenance is a perennial hot-button issue on the Central Coast, and rightfully so.

With over 2,200 kilometres of sealed road to manage, the challenge is enormous.

Potholes, poor surfaces and patchy fixes have long frustrated motorists and damaged cars.

But this tool, combined with a substantial $400M 10-year investment, includes an extra $20M committed for high-priority works.

It is a good signal that Council is getting serious about long term solutions, not just short-term patches.

Mayor Lawrie McKinna described the map as a “strategic, well-prioritised” approach to managing road assets.

And refreshingly, that doesn’t feel like spin.

You can see the plan laid out in black and white, or rather, in interactive, colour coded form.

It’s a chance for residents to hold Council to account, while also gaining insight into the scale and complexity of the job at hand.

Infrastructure Director Boris Bolgoff called it a “game-changer” for public communication, and he might be right.

By making this level of information available, Council is setting a new standard for openness.

For a region expected to grow rapidly in the coming years, investing in safer, longer lasting roads is vital.

So too is keeping the community informed along the way.

This map does both, and sets a welcome tone for how our local government should approach the big jobs ahead.

David Abrahams, Managing Editor