On any given weekend, a steady stream of vehicles makes its way from the Hume Highway, along Jerrara Road, near Marulan, on to Oallen Ford Road and then to the Shoalhaven.

It is just one route Goulburn Mulwaree Council is asking the state government to reclassify as a regional road. It would trigger more state funding but still be managed by the council.

The others are:

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Operations director Matt O'Rourke argued the three routes qualified because they linked population centres.

"I think there is a case to reclassify them because their profile is moving. They are busy roads," he said.

The South East Transport Strategy committee, on which Deputy Mayor Peter Walker sits, will be asked to support the move.

The request will form just one part of a submission to the Road Reclassification Review. An independent panel was appointed earlier this year to investigate the return of up to 15,000km of roads to the state government, thereby reducing pressure on councils.

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Goulburn Mulwaree is also asking that Goldsmith Street between Auburn and Sloane Street, and Grafton and Sloane Streets, from Sydney Road to Clinton Street, be reclassified as state roads. It would recognise high traffic volumes but also freight movements.

In return, the council wants Lagoon and Auburn Streets changed from state to local roads. The move is designed to gain greater control over the main street as it continues a beautification program.

Transport for NSW has given in-principle approval for the Auburn/Sloane Street swap but it is yet to be formally endorsed.

Mr O'Rourke said it would not hold up the Auburn Street median's removal between Verner and Goldsmith Streets this month. It will be replaced with concrete work and tree plantings in September and October.

"We are waiting for the tick-off from Transport for NSW (TfNSW) but the documentation is in and we have quotes to get the work done," Mr O'Rourke said.

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However the reclassification would have to be resolved in the long-term.

"If the swap is to proceed, TfNSW wants Sloane Street brought up to a higher standard. They've done a review and estimated it would cost $6.5 million. We don't have that sort of money so it's likely it will all get tangled up in the road reclassification process," he said.

General manager Warwick Bennett and Mayor Bob Kirk have argued the upgrade was "unreasonable" given that Sloane Street has been the recognised heavy vehicle route since the 1992 bypass and the council has footed its maintenance bill.

At Tuesday's council meeting, Cr Margaret O'Neill asked why money was being spent on Grafton and Sloane Streets, given the proposed reclassification.

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Mr O'Rourke replied there was still an obligation to maintain the thoroughfare until the process was finalised. It is expected to take two to three years.

The reclassification is also an opportunity for the council to grab a greater share of maintenance work on state and regional roads.

"We still have a neighbouring council doing considerable road maintenance in our area," a report stated.

"Although we have been able to secure work within the city boundary, we have been made many promises that all maintenance on state roads would be undertaken by this council. Those promises have been consistently broken."

Goulburn Mulwaree fears that TfNSW will tender the work out to construction companies and that council jobs will be lost.

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The report stated that TfNSW' estimates on roadworks were "sometimes extravagant and certainly not timely."

For this reason it will ask that Goulburn Mulwaree undertake all maintenance of state and regional roads on its patch.

Consultation for the review finishes in August. The panel is expected to deliver an interim report, with recommendations, to the Regional Transport and Roads Minister by December.

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