SAFETY concerns about the state of one of the shire’s roads have been raised by local residents, one of whom has labelled it “an accident waiting to happen”.
Dust, damage to vehicles, driver safety and the safety of children catching the school bus have been voiced as major issues by Castlerock Road resident Mary Dever.
Mrs Dever, who lives on the dirt section of the road, said she has made complaints about the road to Muswellbrook Shire Council and wants the road upgraded immediately.
The road has a two-and-a-half kilometre dirt section in the centre, while both ends are sealed.
Mrs Dever wrote to the council in November last year stating the road was a “safety hazard, environmental hazard and a health issue”.
The council advised Mrs Dever, in a letter dated January 9 2008, that remedial work would be done on the road in late January, however to date it has not been completed.
The letter stated the work would improve drainage and road shoulders at the bus stop, shoulder repair, removal of debris and scour at the causeway and flood damage repair including shoulder scouring along affected road sections.
Muswellbrook Shire Council’s director of community infrastructure Neil Pope said remedial work on Castlerock Road was expected to start next month, however he said there were no plans to seal the road.
“Council is currently engaged in a major program of urban and rural road restoration work,” Mr Pope said.
“This work has been prioritised as a result of information gained from a full road network inspection undertaken by council officers.
“Maintenance and restoration work for Castlerock Road is programmed to commence in April.
“Sealing of this section is not currently on council’s program for the next five years.”
A number of local residents have raised questions about why the first two-and-a-half kilometre section of Castlerock Road (from Kayuga Road intersection) was upgraded, while the dirt section was not.
The residents claim the road will become part of Mt Pleasant mine.
Mr Pope said a section of Castlerock Road extending for about five kilometres will become part of the mine.
“This section starts approximately five kilometres from the intersection of Kayuga Road for the distance of five kilometres,” he said.
Mr Pope said the section of Castlerock Road from the Kayuga intersection was the “most heavily trafficked section of the road” and would be unaffected by the proposed mining development.
Mr Pope said that section services properties that will not become mining land.
“This section was badly damaged in the June floods and council obtained funding from the RTA to rectify this damage,” Mr Pope said.
Mrs Dever said another concern for residents was the school bus-stop, located at the end of a sealed section of road (before the dirt section begins), which is not sign-posted to alert motorists there are children in the area.
Up to 17 children catch the bus, with their ages ranging from five to 16.
“There are no signs to indicate a bus stop is there,” Mrs Dever said.
“There are a lot of cattle trucks out here and they need to be aware there is a bus stop there.”
Mr Pope said while council acknowledged the bus does stop and turn in that spot, there were few designated bus stops in rural areas and that the council had made an enquiry to the ministry of transport seeking records of the approval for the bus route.
“As a rule, bus stops are not sign posted. For example, the school bus presently stops at six locations on Castlerock Road, but this may change depending on the demographics of the locality and therefore signposting every stop would not be practical,” Mr Pope said.
Mrs Dever said her and her husband’s cars have also borne the brunt of living on the road.
“My car is 12 months old and I have had to replace three tyres already,” she said.
“My husband’s car is two-and-a-half years old and he was told six months ago that he already needed to replace the steering column - and it’s a Ford Courier, not a little car.
“We pay rates and what are we paying them for?
“They’re failing their duty of care. If one of the kids gets hurt - and it will happen - it’s just an accident waiting to happen.”
Mr Pope said while virtually all rural roads across the country have a speed limit of 100km/h, under the Motor Traffic Act drivers have an obligation to “drive to the prevailing conditions.”