A resident is concerned poor maintenance is significantly to blame for the extensive damage to Olivers Road – part of the Great Western Tiers Touring Route – during and following the June floods.
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“This whole section of mountain pass has received virtually nil preventative maintenance in the 20 years that I have owned property in the area,” resident Lester Willoughby said.
Mr Willoughby said the lack of maintenance, particularly on table drains adjacent to the road, resulted in flood waters passing beneath the road to escape, rather than travelling along drains to culverts.
“The table drains often do not reach culverts forcing the water to exit under the bitumen ... causing road subsidence,” he said. Mr Willoughby said this is causing the road to continuing to self-destruct after the floods.
“I am advised by the Department of State Growth that the issues resulting in the closure of Olivers Road are not related to a lack of drain maintenance,” Infrastructure Minister Rene Hidding said.
“However, I have asked State Roads to review the maintenance schedule of drains and culverts along Olivers Road to ensure they can cope with heavy rain events without damaging the road surface.”
Mr Willoughby is also frustrated about the rate of repair. “This is an absolutely critical connecting road, it absolutely has to be open before Christmas, anything else is just not acceptable,” he said.
Mr Hidding said that the government was acting to fix Olivers Road as soon as possible.