THE Armidale-Kempsey Road is in such a state of disrepair that it could take billions of dollars to fix the problem once and for all.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 133 kilometre stretch of road, which is mostly unsealed and spans into the Kempsey local government area, has been hit hard by natural disasters in recent times.
Armidale Regional Council has accumulated more than $30 million in grants from the state and federal governments to make immediate repairs to the portion of the road within its shire, but hasn't been unable to make all the necessary fixes due to ongoing weather events.
"Continual wet weather over the past few years has seen significant damage to the road in the form of mountain slips, road wash outs and complete road washing away," a council spokesperson said.
"Emergency work to repair the road is taking place as a result of continual rain events and landslides."
The spokesperson said significant work has been put into securing as much funding as possible to make the road safe.
But residents have grown fed up with local, state and federal governments, and are calling for an "end [to] years of buck-passing and fix a potentially deadly road".
"We don't care who does the work as long as it gets done, and soon - this is a disaster waiting to happen," resident Sandra Mitchell said.
State MP Adam Marshall and Member for New England Barnaby Joyce told the Leader they are well aware of the issue, and are doing what they can to work towards a solution.
Mr Joyce believes it could cost upwards of $60 million just to make short-term repairs, and said it would need to be officially classified as a state road before proper progress could be made, because funding would become easier to provide.
"It's very important and it's a council road and one of the problems is we have to get it transferred across to the state, because it's a $70 to $80 million job to fix that now and council just doesn't have that sort of money," he said.
An Armidale council spokesperson said "it could be in the billions to rectify the issues" permanently.
READ ALSO:
Mr Joyce said he would be willing to spend big on the road.
"The whole point of my neglected roads funding ... is to fix up roads such as that, and even if it's not getting it to sealed, it's getting it to safe," he said.
"It's a lot of work just to make it accessible, and my last discussion at a federal to state level was last week, so I'm very awake to it."
Mr Marshall said it's hugely important that work got underway as quickly as possible, with vehicle activity only set to increase in the near future.
"The capital upgrade of that road is going to be crucial, there's quite a large renewable development with the Yellow Mountain pumped hydro project down that way, not withstanding the residents who live down there," he said.
He also said despite the capital repair costs being so high, council would not have to dip into its own pocket to deal with it.
"The most important thing is that the road gets reinstated, and the full cost of the reinstatement of the road, council will not pay a cent of that. It will all be paid for through the disaster declaration payments," he said.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark northerndailyleader.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News