Council Invests in Local Roads

Published on 14 March 2025

Southern Grampians Shire Council continues to invest in the shire's roads with a recent Road Asset Condition Assessment examining road quality within the Southern Grampians. 

The Road Asset Condition Assessment (RACAs), completed by external contractor Shepherd Asset Management Solutions, independently assesses road, footpath and carpark surfaces. Shepherd’s is currently completing assessments across 30 Councils Australia wide, capturing more than 100,000 kilometres of road data. 

The RACAs vehicle travels every kilometre of road in the shire. The tool produces high-definition digital photographs every 10m, as well as condition information such as surface roughness, and defects like edge-breaks, potholes, rutting, cracking, and more. 

The Southern Grampians road network data is then reviewed by an experienced road engineer, and Artificial Intelligence, to determine any defects that exist as well as a ranking for each defect type. This data is then aggregated to give an overall condition for each segment. 

Southern Grampians Shire Council Acting Mayor Afton Barber said the report assists Council to attain accurate data of each and every road in the shire and uses this to determine which roads should be given the highest priority for maintenance based on their condition and usage. This will enable Council to develop a five-year program to provide best value and strongest outcomes for the community. 

“The data collected helps us to identify which roads are in the most urgent need of renewal or repair. This is also guided by safety and traffic usage data enabling us to make these a high priority. Likewise, it also tells us which roads are in really good condition,” said Cr Barber. 

“Using an assessment tool like RACAs gives us vital information to help manage our large network of roads and better manage our resources. Given the sheer size of our roads network, this is crucial to efficient road management. 

“We were pleased to see how the condition of our roads compared to other Councils within the State and remain committed to providing our community with safe roads that support our community's needs.  

“The work Council has been doing over the past few years to find efficiencies and cost reductions have allowed us to increase investment in our roads and spend in our capital works program. This investment goes a long way to improve road surfaces and footpath connections.” 

Shepherd Asset Management Solutions said their assessment accurately maps the condition of Southern Grampians road surfaces.  

“We captured 1,655km of sealed roads, 938 km of unsealed roads, and 153km of pathways late last year across the Southern Grampians Shire.  

“Through this assessment, Council has improved their understanding of the state of their roads and footpaths and have further enhanced their ability to target maintenance and rehabilitation works, supporting best value for money across the Council area." 

Acting Mayor Barber encourages residents to continue to report any problem areas across the Shire’s Road Network. 

“I would encourage you to report any defects whether that be potholes or cracking for Council managed roads via our Report an Issue section on our website. Please report issues with VicRoads roads to them. 

“As a Council we will continue to petition and advocate both on a State and Federal level for better funding for roads across our region and better roads for the safety of our communities,” concluded Cr Barber.