Rangari Road upgrade hangs in the balance, with Tamworth Regional Council seeking millions more in funding

The road, which connects Manilla to Boggabri, is one of the region's most accident prone, and was originally expected to cost $12.7 million to reseal and widen.

But Tamworth mayor Russell Webb told the Leader despite calling for tenders twice, the quotes were millions higher than anticipated, and the state government will need to pitch in, once again.

"The road was originally costed some time ago, we called for tenders, tenders came in and they were about $5 million more than the money that was allocated by the state government," he said.

"So we went back to the market and we tried again. But again we came up with no real luck.

"The government funding the road was an election promise, and we have put some money in ourselves, so really if we're going to build the road then we really have to go to the state government to give us the rest of the money."

The project will be carried out by the Tamworth and Gunnedah councils, and with no commitment yet from the NSW government to allocate the extra funds, the anticipated completion date of late 2022 will likely be delayed.

Manilla local Adam Cocking has travelled along the road almost every day for work for the past 12 years, and told the Leader the delays are just another kick in the teeth for road users.

"We don't take our good cars now, we car pool," he said.

"Four of us will buy a cheap Ford that we can maintain cheaply and literally throw away after a couple of years, and we've done that for the whole 12 years because of the state of the road.

"The damage is mainly to tyres. But we've hit pigs, we've done all sorts of damage over the years."

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Mr Cocking said the road has become increasingly busy, and dust makes it near impossible to see during work travel times.

"It's a general maintenance issue, and council can only do so much with a dirt road, but the issue is the road is still a dirt road and it needed to be sealed 10 years ago," he said.

Regular road user Mark Lynch said he's amazed no one has been killed or seriously hurt.

"I have seen a lot of crashes on that road in the eight years I've been driving it," he said.

"The dust is bad in the daylight but most of us that leave around 5am and get home around 7pm, and are driving in the dark both ways and most of the time don't see other cars until you are nearly upon them."

Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson said he has taken the request for additional funds to the Minister for Regional Roads and Transport, and he will continue to fight to get the road sealed.

"The community has had enough of delays and I am encouraging council to get the job the done as soon as possible," he said.

When asked why repair costs had blown out, Cr Webb said it was due to the cost of building which has "exponentially gone up over the past six to 12 months".

"So whilst these companies are putting tenders in at high rates, they're doing that because the cost of materials and fuel have gone through the roof," he said.

"Everybody is so busy that they can put their prices up, knowing full well that people who do put in a tender for those jobs will all have a heap of work."

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