There is a large and increasing backlog of maintenance on the national and state- owned roads in South Australia, which is increasing costs for road users.

Over 75% of these roads are life expired and the total backlog of priority works was estimated in 2019 at over $700 million.

Roads in poor condition lead to higher vehicle operating costs, travel times, safety risks and potential resilience issues for traffic.

The 2019 Australian Infrastructure Audit found that a historical underspend on preventative maintenance, short budgetary and funding cycles, a lack of data and incentives, and inadequate reporting have contributed to a maintenance funding backlog across infrastructure sectors.

This proposal is complementary to the Early-Stage Proposal for a National road maintenance backlog, which is separately included on the Infrastructure Priority List and identifies road maintenance issues for national, state and local roads across Australia.