Ardnaree Road out at Tubbul is perhaps one of the most temperamental roads in the Young Shire – just ask the 13 families who live there.
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When it’s dry, they say, the condition of the road “shakes your car to pieces” and dries “rock hard” but when it’s wet, it’s slush and “like driving on glass” because there’s no traction.
Cars and the heavy machinery that also use this road are forced to dodge giant potholes in dry conditions and puddles and oozing mud in the wet.
One resident, who has been living on the road for more than 40 years, has a spinal condition and describes travelling to and from her home on this road as “just hideous”.
She’s raised her concerns with council numerous times and claims 50 per cent of the road hasn’t been maintained since 2006.
Last week was the tipping point.
The woman – who chose to remain anonymous – said she begged council workers not to grade the road before last weekend’s predicted rainfall, knowing all too well what would follow if they did.
Council still went ahead and graded the road last Friday.
Then 22.6 millimetres of rain fell throughout the shire over the next four days.
Up to 5.2 millimetres fell on Saturday before a downpour of 16.4 millimetres on Sunday, 0.8 millimetres on Monday and 0.2 millimetres on Tuesday.
“We live here, we know what the soil’s like,” the woman said.
“The road is graded way below the ground level and the water has nowhere to go. There’s no gravel on it, you sink into oblivion, you get stuck.
“When new people are driving on this road, they get into all sorts of trouble. This is the result of them grading it when I begged them not to,” she said, showing photos she took before and after council graded the road.
She says the road just needs gravel. With two council gravel pits sites just kilometres away she’s a little curious as to why it is all so difficult.
“It sounds like they’re doing something but they’ve got to do it properly,” she said.
In response council’s operations director Dirk Wymer said rainfall wasn’t always a bad thing for road upkeep.
“Regarding the grading in wet or before wet weather the general principle is not to disturb the compacted ‘crust’ if a road is a bit short on gravel depth,” he said.
“If you are talking Ardnaree Road specifically there is a short ‘red’ section (minimal gravel cover) that shouldn’t have been disturbed prior to the weekend rain. That will need rework. But noting rainfall can be good for gravel road maintenance, assisting with compaction.”
