newy.com.au – Port Stephens residents are being asked to comment on a long-term strategy that will shape investment across the council’s 793km road network.
Port Stephens Council has endorsed the draft Road Futures Strategy, which outlines how it plans to maintain, build and fund local roads while directing limited resources towards the routes used by the most people.
Mayor Leah Anderson said safe and reliable roads remained a priority, but ageing infrastructure, difficult terrain and repeated natural disasters had made the network increasingly challenging to manage.
“Many roads were built decades ago on sandy soil and flood-prone terrain, meaning they do not meet modern engineering standards,” Mayor Anderson said.
“We’ve also experienced several natural disasters in recent years, causing over $100 million of damage, accelerating the deterioration of our roads, and adding increasing costs to an already limited budget.”
Under the draft strategy, most road funding would be directed towards the busiest connecting roads. The council would also investigate additional sources of revenue, with Mayor Anderson saying existing funding was insufficient to meet community expectations.
“We cannot rely on traditional funding alone if we’re to stop our roads from deteriorating over the next decade,” she said.
“To make fast improvements, we’d need an additional $10 million per year and would have to explore funding approaches beyond what we currently have available.”
The council is proposing to phase in options including savings, investment returns and the sale of commercial land or road reserves, with the resulting money targeted towards road projects intended to deliver the greatest benefit to residents, businesses and visitors.
Central Ward Councillor Ben Niland said the strategy would build on the council’s Roads Acceleration Program, which is set to invest more than $29 million in road upgrades and maintenance over three years.
The council has also benchmarked its approach against other councils and trialled new technologies, including AI camera hardware to identify road defects more quickly and different products intended to deliver longer-lasting repairs.
“The Road Futures Strategy builds on this momentum, focusing on improvement, highlighting current initiatives that are working well while identifying opportunities for improvement,” Councillor Niland said.
Residents can discuss the strategy at drop-in sessions in Raymond Terrace from 5pm to 7pm on Thursday 13 August, Medowie from 10.30am to 12.30pm on Tuesday 18 August, and Soldiers Point from 5pm to 7pm on Thursday 20 August.
The draft strategy and submission details are available through the council’s Public Exhibitions page. Submissions close on 9 September 2026.
