Council has announced 60 per cent of the $7.1 million raised from a proposed 13.2 rate rise approved by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) will be spent on roads.

In reply to the South Coast Register’s story on roads last week Director Assets and Works Ben Stewart said plans were afoot to rebuild some of the area’s worse roads.

“Millbank Road, Jindy Andy Lane and Hillcrest Road won’t just be resealed they will be rebuilt,” he said.

“That means getting in and taking the surface off the road, pulverising the pavement before bringing in a stabilising machine which will add either a cement or lime mix and rebuilding the road bases.

“Gravel is then put in followed by a new seal.

“We’ve heard what the community is saying, roads are their priority, footpaths also, but roads really at this point of time.”

He said $400,000 would be spent on Millbank Road in the next financial year rebuilding around 800 metres to road.

“It’s quite frustrating for motorists,” he said “what you can see there [Milbank Road]  is the road gets to the end of its life, the bitumen starts breaking up and we really need to spend the money to rebuild the road properly,” he said.

“The patching is really a risk management activity we have to do. We’ve got 1400 kilometres of roads in the city and we are only getting around to 10 to 14km of roads rebuilt each year and about 50km of resealing.

“We have got to spend more money rebuilding these roads and rebuilding them well.

“We always have roads on our list that need to be rebuilt. This means they won’t get deferred into the future and we can bring a number of roads forward like Millbank Road or Jindy Andy Lane.

“Some of these roads, particularly in the low lying farming areas, haven’t seen much attention for over a decade.

“You can’t just leave roads in these areas, particularly now. Kalandar Street gets an average daily traffic of 14,000 vehicles. It’s getting busier and busier on the highway end.

“More and more people are using Millbank Road [1335 average traffic movements per day] , Jindy Andy Lane and Terara Road [3761 average traffic movements per day] to get into town.

“We can see we need to do some work here.”

He pointed out Millbank Road and Jindy Andy Lane, originally country lanes, were never designed to be carrying the volume of traffic they do on a daily basis.

“What’s unique about these country lanes is they don’t have a shoulder on them,” he said.

“That means the edges of the roads are quite susceptible to breaking away. So when we go in to rebuild them we give them an extra bit of width.

“While that may stop a few errant vehicles getting off the road it will also support the travel lanes.

“They were laneways and back in the ’80s when we were sealing these roads. It didn’t mean we were rebuilding a lot of them before we sealed them. They’ve held together to this point but they do need more action.”

He said rebuilding was more expensive than the resealing of bitumen roads.

“We reseal around 50km a year and that will rise to 80km next year,” he said.

“Resealing keeps the water out and stops some of these potholes forming. It’s about extending the asset’s life. The longer we can get out of the asset the better it is and the less we have to spend on it.

“If you reseal the road and don’t let the water get in then you don’t see these potholes forming. If we fix a pothole it’s about risk management.  But if one hole forms and then another quite often it’s because the water has got in.

“We can undertake a number of repair methods - we can do heavy patching, we also do jet spraying which is a spray bitumen emulsion and also a small chip seal. Then we move onto what is bigger than heavy patching and asphalt patching which is a rebuild.

“We are doing some significant asphalt work in this area, we just did Peppermint Drive at Worrigee.  I know there have been concerns about Rayleigh Drive which has works scheduled in coming weeks. That would have happened more recently but the wet weather got us. The asphalt works can only go ahead in the warmer and drier weather.”

He said other roads were programed for future years but that would be dependant on the IPART application.

“At the moment they have allowed us 12 month window,” he said.

He said around $2 million would go into bitumen resealing which would allow for an extra 30km of sealing work.

“In the years following that there are a number of roads either going to be done or not, depending on IPART approval or if council goes for future rate applications,” he said.

He said ENSAR, the East Nowra Sub Arterial Road, was among a number of roads in the Shoalhaven that have been in the planning for many years.

ENSAR starts at Greenwell Point Road close to Old Southern Road, sweeps around east of Stockland before meeting up with North Street.

“The real trigger for ENSAR in the short to medium term would be Stockland and what their decision is about their future development. That is one of the key aspects,” he said.

“Obviously there is already pressure on Kalandar Street and we’ll be talking to the state government about where ENSAR and other roads, it could be the Far North Collector Road and others, could take pressure off certain intersections on the highway.

“The critical aspect is the people moving east to west. The majority of the employees and employers are based to the west, the industrial estate. It has 5000 employees there now, which could grow to 20,000 in the future and the main CBD as well.

“It is seen as a key link, especially as the majority of the population is on the coastline at Culburra, Currarong and Callala and here [Worrigee etc].”

He said while the final route of the proposed new crossing of the Shoalhaven River might play a role, he believes RMS must look at all intersections.

“It doesn't matter if you look from Warra Warra Road in the south, all the way to Bomaderry in the north there are intersections that there is pressure on,” he said.

He said suggestions by readers of other roads that need work have been taken on board.

Comerong Island Road was one, which Mr Stewart said in the last three years the two worse areas had been repaired, while work was also currently being undertaken on Greenwell Point Road near Mayfield Road, where council has been doing heavy patching for a long while.

Further work was scheduled for Greenwell Point Road east of Pyree Hall in next year’s program.

“Work comes down to where it fits in the program, we see as a priority,” he said.

Work on the Wool Road at Sanctuary Point and Larmer Avenue are scheduled for next year and two years after that.

Jervis Bay and Naval College roads were also suggested with Mr Stewart saying around $2 million was being spent on Naval College Road at the moment.

He said grading of unsealed road was an ongoing task, with the city having 400km of unsealed roads.

“It is a challenge,” he said “we are out there resheeting, we have about half a million dollars every year.

“We are doing work at Old Princes Highway at Termeil, while Wheelbarrow Road we have in for Blackspot funding next year. We have turned about 14 per cent of the unsealed network into sealed network over the last five years and we continue to try and do that. “

He said it was needed to grade roads, particularly out the back of Kangaroo Valley, Budgong and areas which sometimes get hit really bad by storms and suffer damage.

“There is a maintenance schedule. Some areas get three month visits and some six month visits depending on the number of residents and the amount of traffic in the area,” he said.

“But we have focussed in the Valley over the last two years.”

Under the existing rates the draft program major road works include -  Worrigee Road, Bendalong Road, Currarong Road, Coonemia Road, Warden Street, Prince Edward Avenue, The Wool Road and Greenwell Point Road next year.

The current road work schedule is available on the Shoalhaven City Council website.

Current  Shoalhaven City Council roadwork and infrastructure projects

Berry

Beach Road - Works have started for full pavement rehabilitation of approximately 1.2km from Harley Hill Road to Toolijoola Road.

Brundee

Greenwell Point Road - The works will involve rehabilitation of 930m of road pavement and construction of adjacent shoulders, either side of the Mayfield Road intersection.  

Callala Bay

Stabilisation work is complete on the open drain along the unformed section of Wearne Street, between Chapman and Lackersteen streets. Work has moved into Chapman Streets. These are the first in a series of drainage projects around Bay, Chapman and Morton street areas.

Conjola

Lake Conjola Entrance Road - Roadworks are continuing.  

Coolangatta

Coolangatta Road and Bolong Road - Council have been working on the Coolangatta Road upgrade involving the widening and pavement strengthening of the last 1.3km on the eastern end.

Culburra Beach

Culburra Road – Stage two of road pavement reconstruction and road widening is scheduled to start in mid-May. The extent of works will include the Coonemia Road intersection up to the recently completed stage one works.

Greenbank Grove - Road rehabilitation works are almost complete between the intersections of Wollumboola Lane and Park Street.  The existing pavement has been removed, sub-soil drainage installed and new road pavement constructed.

Prince Edward Avenue  – Road Rehabilitation works consist of 455m of full width pavement reconstruction between The Lake Circuit and Eastwood Ave (#145 to #146).

Milton

Matron Porter Drive – Shared user path stage three from Frogs Holla Sports Grounds to Sungrove Lane (425m - 2.5m wide) is in progress.  

Mollymook

Mitchell Parade – Shared user pathway and pedestrian facilities are scheduled to start.  The shared user path on the eastern side of Mitchell Parade will be extended north to Beach Road terminating just beyond No.3 Beach Rd. Two pedestrian refuges will be constructed in Mitchell Parade, one approximately 75m south of Tallwood Ave and the other just south of the Beach Road intersection.

Tallwood Avenue – A raised pedestrian crossing will be constructed between Jones Ave and Carrol Ave along with widening of the existing footpath on southern side of Tallwood Ave from Mitchell Pde to the shops.  

Nowra

Stewart Place – Construction work is continuing in the bus shelters area. Kerb and gutter and footpath has been replaced and bus shelters are in the process of being relocated. The project will soon move north to the next set of bus shelters, where further kerb and gutter and footpath will be replaced.

Orient Point

Park Row and Flora Street Intersection – Road rehabilitation works.

South Nowra

Flinders Road - Route upgrade works involve the widening and upgrade between Norfolk Avenue and Nowra Creek bridge to produce a 13m wide sealed road with kerb and gutter and drainage throughout.  The roundabout construction involves the construction of two concrete roundabouts (a primary and a secondary).  The work will also feature improved street lighting at the existing intersections.  The contractor has been engaged and construction works onsite are anticipated to start in May and scheduled for completion before Christmas 2017 (weather pending).

St Georges Basin

Island Point Road - Footpath and kerb and gutter upgrade fronting the shops, from The Village Green to Anson Street.  

Sussex Inlet

Ellmoos Avenue - Council are constructing a new 59 space carpark on 45-47 Ellmoos Avenue Sussex Inlet over the coming months.

Sussex Inlet Road - Roads works have started near house number 802.  Works will raise the level of the existing pavement, in preparation of the construction of a new culvert.

Tomerong

Pine Forest Road – Widening of the road shoulder west of Connolly Street is being carried out in order to provide an “On-Road Footpath”.  Metal guardrail is to be provided for 160m in length.  

Ulladulla

South Street and Jubilee Avenue – Works on the roundabout in Ulladulla. South Street, Jubilee Avenue and the adjoining carpark access are closed at the work site.  

Woollamia

Woollamia Road – Shoulder sealing adjacent to the shared user path. For further information please call 4406 2000.

Worrigee

Peppermint Drive and Sullivan Street Intersection – road rehabilitation works.

Worrowing Heights / Vincentia

Naval College Road - Limited to between Pine Forest Road and Seagrass Avenue.  Works will include road shoulder widening and sealing.