A SECTION of Mitre Street was patched just two months ago, but already the council's efforts are crumbling away.
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And, if you ask councillor Warren Aubin, it's just another example of the need for a better way to build and repair roads in Bathurst.
Mitre Street, which has long been prone to potholes, was heavily patched between Keppel and Esrom streets in early to mid July on both the low and high sides of the centre island.
Bathurst Regional Council's manager of works, Simon Armitage, said that water is causing the significant deterioration of the surface.
The street last underwent full resurfacing works in 2011, but resurfacing and patching are no longer adequate solutions.
"It's always been a bit rough, but it's just getting worse," Cr Aubin said, adding that the trees in the centre island could also be contributing to the situation.
"I don't think it's an easy fix, because I think they'd have to do something with the trees and then once they've done that dig up the whole road."
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Mr Armitage said "a full road reconstruction would be necessary" to solve the problems plaguing Mitre Street.
The necessary works are estimated to cost $100,000 and have yet to be scheduled.
It's not uncommon for there to be a long wait for roads to be repaired, with council's infrastructure backlog sitting at in excess of $50 million.
However, Cr Aubin said that it's not a problem exclusive to Bathurst.
"It's one of those things that every council has to deal with," he said.
"... Everything is old because we're an old city and everything in the older part of the city is just old. You've got to come to some point, like the Harbour Bridge, where you have to go around fixing things and get it done to a satisfactory level.
"It's a tough one, but I guess when we look at the roads we've got - and, trust me, go to other cities and honestly we're not the only ones - everyone's in the same boat."
Cr Aubin has been researching better ways to build and repair roads, saying it is the only way to stop these problems reoccurring.
"We've got to find a way to fix roads better, to repair roads better. I've been banging on about this for a long time, this going along filling up potholes with bitumen is just archaic," he said.
"We've got to get a better way of repairing roads for starters and I'm going along speaking with different companies at the moment about road repair machines. We're talking upwards of half a million dollars for a machine, but God it would be worth it.
"...We've got to do repairs that are permanent or as permanent as a road. We need to look into that technology, its got to be available, because it's just ridiculous the way things are happening now."
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