With flood water levels now receding in NSW, the state government has launched a Regional Road Flood Recovery Taskforce to fast track efforts to restore the road network.
Some areas are still cut off and there are road closures that may need to be in place for some time.
The main roles of the taskforce will include assessing damage, reporting ongoing road closures, assisting the freight industry and other road users, and supporting councils with applications for disaster recovery funding.
Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Paul Toole said the floods have left a trail of wreckage across the state’s road network.
“We know how important it is to restore these road networks as quickly as possible to ensure supplies are getting in and communities are able to start getting back on their feet,” Toole said.
“However, due to the large number of slips and inaccessibility of some areas, it is likely that closures of some roads will be in place for several weeks.”
Toole added, “It’s a huge job and Transport for NSW is prioritising assessments of the damage to the road network and will continue to carry out emergency repair work as it is safe to do so.”
Some of the damage, particularly along Bells Line of Road and slope failures along Jenolan Caves Road, which received close to 250 millimetres of rain, will require more extensive and time-consuming repairs.
In the north, Waterfall Way has over a dozen landslips after more than 500 millimetres of rain in the area. By early April, crews were already on site starting the high risk clean-up, with their safety the key priority.
“Smaller slope failures can be cleaned up quickly. However, larger ones – such as where the majority of the road has washed away on Jenolan Caves Road at Five-Mile – will take extensive investigation, design and complex work to repair.”