Constructive feedback drives rural road upgrade
Published on 14 September 2023
A key farm thoroughfare in the municipality’s north is being upgraded to an all-weather road following community feedback.
Horsham Rural City Council is working to turn a 900-metre section of Robins Road at Wail into a gravel road suitable for access to a major farming enterprise on the road.
Infrastructure Director John Martin said HRCC’s investigation found that the unformed dirt section of the road was posing a safety risk and hindering business productivity, as the adjoining farmer’s only wet weather access was via an un-signalled rail level crossing, which has only a short gap between the railway line and the Western Highway.
“The short distance between the rail line and the Highway is not long enough for semi-trailers, let alone b-doubles to safely prop before turning onto the Western Highway,” he said.
“This section of road is not intended as an alternative route to the Western Highway due to this safety aspect.
The project is expected to be completed by the middle of October.
Robins Road will then be counted as part of HRCC’s gravel road network that spans 965 kilometres.
Over the past few years, Council has increased the budget for gravel road re-sheeting from about $600,000, to $900,000 last year. In the 2023-24 budget $1 million has been allocated to re-sheeting.
“As part of our Rural Road Network Plan, each gravel road undergoes proper grading at least once every second year, in line with the agreed service level established in the Plan,” Mr Martin said.
“Additionally, we aim to maintain a minimum gravel depth of 40 mm at all times.
“Reactive maintenance tasks are also carried out within the agreed timeframe outlined in the Road Management Plan.”
This month, HRCC’s operations team is currently undertaking gravel road maintenance in the Toolondo, Wonwondah, Dooen, Longerenong and Kalkee areas.
Residents can help improve the condition of roads by reporting defects via HRCC’s online service request system or by calling 53829777.