Motorists in and around the Tweed are being warned to slow down and take extreme caution on shire roads this weekend as a forecast deluge of around 200mm of rain is expected to cause landslips and rock falls.
The long weekend forecast has prompted calls for motorists to expect the unexpected on the Tweed Valley’s steep roads with further rain following March’s devastating floods.
Tweed Shire Council’s infrastructure-delivery manager Tim Mackney says the roadside areas on the steep rural roads are still saturated and any amount of rain could cause further slippages.
‘If we get the forecast 200mm or more, we should expect more damage to and debris on our roads,’ Mr Mackney said.
‘Motorists who see fresh damage on our roads are asked to report it to council so it can be logged for repair by calling our contact centre on 6670 2400 during office hours or 1300 292 872 after hours or by downloading Tweed Shire Council’s app from the App Store or Google Play.
‘By all means tell your Facebook friends too, but please report it to us first so we can fix it.’
Council’s road network sustained major damage in the March flood, with more than 1,500 individual damage items recorded.
To date, some 350 less-complex repairs have been completed.
‘Council is engaging more contractors to help speed the flood restoration works but realistically it will be 12 months before most of the road and bridge damage is repaired,’ Mr Mackney said.
‘Some more complex damage repairs could take up to three years before they are completed.
‘So we ask motorists to be patient, particularly in wet weather, as our roads are susceptible to more damage.’
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