But the shire’s main – and most maligned – street is about to finally be repaired.

Dungog Shire Council will use its reserves, the State Government’s Main Road 101 funding and Federal Government Roads to Recovery grants to repair Dowling Street over the next year.

Road crews will start work on the zebra crossing at Chapman Street within weeks as the funding conditions stipulate the funds must be spent by the end of June.

The work will include aligning the crossing and installing blisters to make the crossing safer.

The 700m of road between Mary Street and Mackay Street will next get the road crew’s  attention with that work scheduled to be finished before the end of the 2018/19 financial year.

Dungog Mayor Tracy Norman said she hears constantly from people across the shire, not just Dungog residents, about the state of the Dowling Street.

“Dungog is the main town where tourists go and its main street is an awful advertisement for the whole shire,” she said.

 “We simply haven’t had the money to do it.”

Complicating the  issue is the extraordinary slope on the road and the negotiations that have had to take place with Hunter Water Corp to relocate the water main which runs straight down the centre of the road.

“There’s been a fair bit to it, it’s more complicated than people think,” said Cr Norman.

Previously the council’s grant funding has been allocated to roads where traffic volume and safety are considered higher than the Dowling Street need.

“Council’s engineer Steve Hitchens has really gone into bat for council with the RMS on the need for the funds to go to Dowling Street,” she said.

Cr Norman said the design stages for the final part of upgrading Dowling Street are still in the design stages.

“The council’s engineers and general manager are looking into all sorts of designs to to get a good result and a better streetscape,” she said.

“Whatever the result we will level it out a bit more for both drainage and safety.”