RESIDENTS at Dunrobin and Wando Vale are fed-up with the ongoing closure of the Warrock Road bridge at Roseneath, which some say is causing excessive time and kilometres to be added to what should be short trips.
Neighbouring property owner, Robert Simson said the bridge, also known locally as Red Cap crossing, was damaged around five years ago, when agricultural spraying machinery forced the spreading of and damage to side rails of the bridge and the road surface itself, as it crossed the Glenelg River.
Mr Simson said since that time, barriers had been installed around the edges of the bridge and reduced speed limit signs put in place.
In 2022, affected landholders were notified that the bridge would be closed as repairs were made to the bridge.
“We got a notice from (Glenelg Shire Council) before the work started,” Mr Simson said.
“On the 16th of January, the repairs started … it was supposed to be finished on the 10th of March.
“But work has come to a standstill.”
The Warrock Road connects the Casterton-Apsley and Casterton-Edenhope Roads, about 25 kilometres north of Casterton.
The bridge is less located less than 50 metres from the Casterton-Apsley Road intersection; the Warrock Road does not intersect with any other roads, so residents living along the road rely on those two main roads, for access to everything, from work, to school, medical and groceries.
For the Simsons, the bridge’s closure turns an approximately 25-kilometre trip into Casterton into a more than 35-kilometre journey.
Clancy Burn, who regularly uses the Warrock Road said from the outset, the project kept going from bad to worse.
“From day one, this repair has been a bad joke,” she said.
“On the first day of school this year, parents arrived to drop kids to bridge, where they were assured workers would stop works and escort them over to the bus coming down the main road.
“When they arrived, there were no works and no workers.
“Parents then had to scurry to try and take the kids to town via the long way around to get them to school on time and to their own workplaces.
“Several days before the deadline for completion, we all received new letters saying there had been delays, then later another letter, another delay and finally a letter saying there is now no completion date.
“Many of us have rung the numbers provided to either be fobbed off with ‘I don't knows’ or not to be answered at all.”
Ms Burn said in addition to extending trip times, the bridge’s closure had the potential for disastrous consequences.
“This has affected residents in varying ways and could have potentially been catastrophic had there been a fire or medical emergency,” she said.
“We were told that emergency services had been informed the road was closed but google maps showed nothing, so it would have been easy for an ambulance to go to the wrong end of the road and then have to spend 45 to 60 minutes re-routing.
“Farmers have had to spend extra on transport of livestock and inputs like hay, grain, fertiliser, et cetera and truck drivers have had to negotiate a terrible section of road know as ‘Steepbank’ to access our end.
“School kids have had to cross a bridge with no railings and an estimated four-metre drop - not as bad during the warmer months, now means kids will be getting wet from the several hundred metre walk and climb through scaffolding before and after school.
“Workers are spending up to an hour extra travelling the long way round - for my husband going to Naracoorte almost daily, it is now a three-plus hour trip.”
Ms Burn said on the back of Covid-19 lockdowns, the ongoing blocking of the vital access road and no end date, as yet, was not only inconvenient, but stressful for local residents.
“Most people on our road are farmers and we are used to plans changing and the need to be flexible but this is getting beyond a joke,” she said.
“Work that was promised to be completed in six weeks has now been ongoing for over four months and there is no completion date available.
“A large amount of rates are collected from farmers, especially with the increase in land values and rates rises seem to be happening often. Individuals may be open to sharing their rates notice amounts - ours is only a hobby block, so only around the $1000-mark, but large farm holdings locally are rumoured to be paying up to $65,000 annually.”
Both Ms Burn and Mr Simson made a comparison between the Warrock Road bridge project and a recently completed footbridge, in Portland.
“There was big excitement in Portland - the home of the GSC - recently when a footbridge for residents was completed,” Ms Burn said.
“This is obviously a good thing but is a kick in the teeth to us up here, who pay rates and get very little back for the privilege - not even a wheelie bin collection service - and are having our livelihoods challenged.”
Alex and Tim Currie, who live on the Warrock Road said in mid-2022, residents were given three days’ notice of pending closure of the bridge; the work was then delayed, when residents complained.
“At that time, we had four trucks a week coming over the bridge bringing grain … the trucks can’t go the other way, the B-doubles can’t get through Steepbank,” Mrs Currie said.
“When we complained, they said they’d do it earlier in (2023) so it wouldn’t impact animal health and our ability to feed and it would be better for them to do it in Summer … for drying the concrete.”
Mr Currie said yesterday he had been at the bridge site two weeks ago and then again yesterday and work continued to remain at a standstill.
“What has been done there, all up, looks like the equivalent of two people doing three days’ work … there’s really nothing,” he said.
Mr Currie also questioned the local in rebuilding the bridge to the same specifications, as the bridge clearly was not wide enough for its required purposes, given the cause of the original damage.
“We asked them whether they would extend the side on the bridge so they would be even with the roads on the edge of the bridge … they have to re-do (the sides) anyway … the bridge is so narrow, you’re losing a metre of bridge width where it is now, but they don’t seem interested in that,” he said.
On Thursday, a Glenelg Shire Council spokesperson said there were some contractual matters that had to be resolved, which caused some delays to the project. “The project is now back on track, and we expect works to commence Wednesday, 24 May 2023 and to be completed in the following weeks,” he said.
