![Ballarat mayor Des Hudson said roads can be tricky. Picture by Lachlan Bence Ballarat mayor Des Hudson said roads can be tricky. Picture by Lachlan Bence](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/116320384/2eaf7d28-c8fe-4e30-9d60-5b814ac9bae4.jpg/r0_316_6192_3811_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Roads are one of the City of Ballarat council's big three - roads, rates and rubbish.
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Ballarat, along with most of Western Victoria has a history of failing roads, falling apart and littered with potholes faster, it seems, than other parts of Victoria.
In a first for Ballarat and a part of the council's $4 million re-sheeting funds, a stretch of Tait Street in Sebastopol will be re-sheeted with a partially recycled road surfacing material.
Around 10 per cent of the resurfacing material for this stretch of road is recycled rubber from tyres.
Ballarat mayor Des Hudson said it would be saving material which would otherwise end up in landfill.
![Mayor Des Hudson on the roller. Picture by Lachlan Bence Mayor Des Hudson on the roller. Picture by Lachlan Bence](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/alexander.ford/c9dbb278-850e-488f-bee9-5aa4296a797c.jpg/r0_0_6192_3949_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"We're aiming for 70 roads which will have that extensive treatment," he said.
Cr Hudson said the council had invested more into roads as a response to listening to residents and ratepayers concerns.
"The conditions of roads and conditions across the state and beyond is an issue but the roads we look after, we've certainly invested more money," he said.
"It's almost 30 per cent of our budget we spend on roads annually, we spend around $30 million."
The stretch of road on Tait Street covered 1150 square metres from Hertford Street to Southern Court.
Cr Hudson said utilising materials otherwise destined for landfill was supporting a circular economy.
"It's taking something past its use-by date and coming into a road base is a great alternate use of something that may have been gone to landfill or left to harm the environment," he said.
While other parts of the state have used the rubber tyre mix for roads, this patch will be Ballarat's trial.
This section of road will adapt to increased road use as road engineers have increased the subsurface depth to 150mm rather than 35mm.
"We have larger vehicles, higher frequency of vehicles which is sometimes why roads are failing and we have roads that have been done for 40, 50, 60 years or longer," he said.
"This will be a great test for us to see and measure whether or not this stands the test of time on a really busy road."
Ballarat roads are sitting on a difficult subsurface and often get water damage - a bad combination for highly used roads.
Cr Hudson acknowledged roads can be controversial for Ballarat and said it was a "tricky issue".
He said there was "no perfect solution" for criticism over whether council was doing enough to keep up with road issues.
"Our community understands that roads are a difficult beast, especially in a growing city and an aging city," Cr Hudson said.
Cr Hudson said these are challenges Ballarat council face, saying some roads can be "horrendous."
Others roads to be tackled will cover 44,000 square meters through Ascot, Cardigan Village, Miners Rest, Wednouree, Warrenheip, Canadian, Sebastopol, Redan and Buninyong.
To request repairs to a City of Ballarat road, visit forms.ballarat.vic.gov.au/ReportIssue, download the Snap Send Solve app to quickly report any road problems to us 24/7 or call on 5320 5500.