In the New England region alone it would take $66 million to bring local roads up to scratch. 

The NRMA report, Funding Local Roads, takes into account the works reported by local councils, and not surprisingly the release has been timed to coincide with the upcoming federal election.

Glen Innes is up there with $17.9 million, Tenterfield has a roads backlog of about $11 million, Armidale is in the double figures ($11m) and Uralla council reported a backlog of $533,000. State-wide the figure it upwards of $1.7 billion.

NRMA deputy president Fiona Simson goes on to say the burden on regional councils is unsustainable.

She says councils have done all they can to tackle the backlog, but more needs to be done, including: 

* An immediate tripling of funding provided to the Roads to Recovery program;

* Directing a greater share of fuel excise levies to regional councils;

* For councils to be provided with low interest regional funding sources;

* Combining road asset benchmarks and consolidating regional road planning;

* Building up the engineering capability of regional councils;

* Building road networking alliances with the private sector; and

* Reforming government funding programs for local councils.

The NRMA concludes that even if the Roads to Recovery funding announced in the Budget is maintained, the 

statewide backlog would not be met until 2027.

It’s hard to argue that’s not a long time to wait for a decent road infrastructure in regional NSW.

And if our councils can’t provide it, as is becoming increasingly obvious, it is time governments higher up started to pay attention.

It’s difficult to sit in the country and watch as huge amounts of money are spent on bypasses and motorways in city areas, while our roads languish in disrepair.

It’s both an economic and emotional argument to say let’s fix the problem.