Queensland asphalt company MR-Roads has launched a new community program that will reduce the rate of carpark incidences and improve community road safety in the state.
The Community Carpark Safety Program will see the Brisbane start-up donate asphalt mix and crew hire to repair damaged school, hospital, charity and small-business car parks across southeast Queensland.
As much as four tonnes of unused asphalt will be redeployed each week as part of the initiative, which is the equivalent of roughly 75 potholes a month and valued at $16,000.
MR-Roads co-founder and co-CEO James Rolph said the program was a no-brainer for the company, given its close local ties to the community.
“We’re seeing so many more deteriorating carparks than ever before, due to the past few years of heavy rainfall, and we know this can be quite costly to fix particularly for schools and community clubs,” Rolph said. “Pothole and carpark repairs can cost in the thousands of dollars which means they often get de-prioritised and left for up to months at a time, which has huge consequences for the people who use them.”
The program has invited local organisations within a 100km radius of North Lakes, Brisbane to apply for one-off, pro-bono repairs to their damaged carpark.
North Brisbane health club Fitness Cartel at Kippa Ring was the first to receive support under the program, with MR-Roads donating $3600 of repairs to mend an eight-square metre diameter pothole at the centre of their members’ carpark.
“We were so thrilled to have MR-Roads reach out and offer to fix our carpark. Without them we’d probably still have people driving around to avoid hitting it,” the health club said. “Now, the entire area is just a smooth, seamless experience and is a lot safer for everyone. As a small business, getting the money to fix potholes doesn’t typically rank high on our priority list, so having access to this kind of support is just phenomenal.”
MR-Roads co-founder and co-CEO Daniel Mikus said increasing rainfall and severity of weather conditions in Queensland will continue to impact roads and carparks, thus more support was needed to reduce the pressure.
“Potholes and road failures don’t just cause issues for motorists and pedestrians, they impact the community’s perception of a business,” Mikus said. “It also puts the business at risk of litigation if damage caused is signifcant enough. Cracks will form as part of the natural life cycle of a road, but when water gets into these cracks, it will start to deteriorate the sublayers of the asphalt, and basically it will soften the soil until it caves in.
“We’ve had a few years of heavy rain and so it’s natural we’re seeing an increase in potholes and road damage,” Mikus added. “What’s not helpful is that costs of construction have increased at the same time, and so it puts a lot of our small local businesses in a tough position – pay money they don’t have to fix the damage, or put the community at risk. Keeping our local areas safe for everyone should be a priority and so we’re really excited today to bring this program to life and give back.”
