The recent shocking weather in much of the country has once again highlighted a major problem affecting many small communities, and grey nomads … the flood-prone highways!
The heavy rain and rising water levels has made the Newell Highway unpassable and left the New South Wales town of Forbes and others isolated.
The cutting off of the highway destroys the tourist trade for numerous towns and turns their trade into a trickle.
“While the road is shut, our income is going to be decimated,” said Ali Plummer, who owns a nearby Big4 caravan park. “We are just worried about our staff, we rely heavily on them and they rely on us because they are only employed on a casual basis.”
The Border Mail Newspaper reports that two sections of the highway – one 16-kilometre stretch between Forbes and West Wyalong and another one-kilomtre stretch between Forbes and Parkes – flood every time the Lachlan River breaks its banks.
“The Newell Highway should never be cut off,” said Chris Roylance from the Forbes Business Chamber. “Other smaller roads next to the river can be cut because that is how God set it up, but the Newell Highway – nah, we are over that. That’s wrong, time’s up, it needs to be fixed.”
The New South Wales Government committed $500 million to an upgrade of the Newell Highway last year, but no plans were included for a small elevation of the highway along the two consistently impacted stretches of road.
“I can understand why businesses are doing it tough with the closure of the highway. This is a flood event that we couldn’t overcome,” said NSW Roads Minister, Duncan Gay. “What we will do is make sure that we do everything possible for that community that is affected and we are doing that.”
· Have you been affected by the sealing off of roads such as the Newell Highway? Comment below.
The Newell Highway is a road of significant national importance. I carries a truck every minute of the day, essentially from Brisbane to Melbourne and return. Businesses along the route rely very much on truckies, tourists and of course Grey Nomads. The Government is currently spending a fortune putting in overtaking lanes and straightening out curves north of Parkes instead of fixing the areas that flood. It still may be weeks before the highway reopens and in the meantime businesses go broke.