Councils urgent call for funds to fix flood damaged roads

Ask anyone who's jumped in their car and had to drive the obstacle course of craters in the road - potholes are everywhere.

La Nina has brought ongoing, widespread wet weather to eastern Australia and it's cut off communities, swept away roads and claimed lives.

In between downpours, workers have barely had time to patch holes before there's more rain, leaving motorists to bear the financial burden of damage to their vehicles from pockmarked roads.

The damage bill is in the millions for many local government areas, such as the $40 million backlog of repairs needed in Dubbo in NSW's Central West, and that's just one of 236 flood-soaked LGAs across NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.

The damage bill is beyond what already-stretched local councils can afford, Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) president and City of Sydney councillor Linda Scott said.

"Councils are responsible for 77 per cent of Australia's roads, but collect less than four per cent of national taxation. We simply can't afford to maintain our road network to an acceptable standard under these funding constraints," she said.

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"The poor state of our local roads has been exacerbated over the past 12 months by severe and ongoing flooding."

The ALGA is advocating for an increase in Roads to Recovery Funding, from $500 to $800 million a year, that will support councils to invest in the roads.

"Restoring federal Financial Assistance Grants to councils to at least one per cent of Commonwealth taxation, revenue would also support councils to build and maintain safer roads right across our country," Cr Scott said.

Port Macquarie resident Robert Isherwood was lucky to escape with his life after inadvertently riding his motorbike into loose gravel on a pothole patch up on the NSW North Coast.

When his bike hit the gravel it slid, dragging him headfirst along the road. While he escaped with his life, he's been left with repair costs of up to $9600.

NRMA's Peter Khoury said damage to some vehicles after driving through a pothole, has been so significant that it's not just a matter of changing a tyre.

"Damage is structural, in which case we have to call a tow [truck]," he told ACM this week.

Mr Khoury said the onus should be on state and federal governments to provide funds to councils so roads can be repaired.

"Council's overwhelmingly carry the lion's share of road maintenance in Australia," he said. "A lot of these councils just don't have the revenue.

"A lot of councils, in particular regional councils, struggle financially with revenue to begin with, but then subjected to this level of work that is now required, they need help."