Road maintenance shifts in-house to Main Roads in Great Southern and South West

Roger Cook has announced over 100 new staff are expected to join Main Roads in the Great Southern and South West as road maintenance returns to the agency responsible for the State’s road network.

A total of 39 staff in the Great Southern and 61 staff in the South West will move to Main Roads as part of WA’s in-house shift, which began in 2022 after services were contracted out in the 1990s.

A new office has been established in Manjimup to support road maintenance and will accommodate 20 staff.

The Premier said that the move back to Main Roads for maintenance will ensure regional roads are better serviced in the future.

“Creating sustainable regional jobs is part of our plan to create strong regional communities for the future,” Mr Cook said.

“By bringing road maintenance back into government, we’re delivering quality local jobs with better pay and conditions for workers.”

“We have 39 workers in the Great Southern region, and we’ll transition from one of our contracting companies into Main Roads to bring it back in-house in addition to another 61 (workers) in the South West.”

“What this means is that we’ll have people on full-time contracts working side-by-side as part of our great Western Australian public sector teams, making sure that our road and transport infrastructure continues to be maintained, monitored, and developed as part of an overall public sector team.”

Minister for Transport Rita Saffioti said the return of road maintenance to Main Roads has been a “key priority for our Government”.

“It’s very rewarding to see the ongoing progress, and to welcome these new employees to Main Roads across our Great Southern and South West regions,” she said.

“The transition process is going to deliver better outcomes for workers, regional economies and our road network, meaning more local jobs, and road maintenance crews that are better placed to respond to issues when we need them.

“I’m also really happy to see the new Manjimup office coming together. Establishing this new office will provide a long-term regional employment opportunity for the South West and a new local interface for Main Roads customers.”