Outback roads bonanza with almost $10 million in upgrades (and an outback shrimp)

The upgrades are making outback roads safer, improving travel times for motorists and more people can stay on the road and get to where they need to go when there is wet weather.

On an outback trip last week, Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Jenny Aitchison inspected projects funded through the Fixing Local Roads Program.

One of the projects completed by Cobar Shire Council is the upgrade of Wilga Downs Road which received almost $2.8 million from the NSW Government and almost $250,000 from council.

The sealing of nearly 14 kilometres of the road, construction of a causeway and stabilising of causeways means local industries, families and medical services now have all-weather access on an important route between the Cobar and Bourke Shires.

Another key far west road upgrade is also complete, with $2.75 million invested in improving the Cameron Corner Road, which straddles the border of NSW, Queensland and South Australia.

Transport for NSW delivered the works realigning two curves, rehabilitating the road, improving drainage, installing gravel overlay and sealing 2km of road.

Crews who delivered Cameron Corner Road upgrade are now working on two other local road improvements worth around $4.2 million and which will reduce the threat of erosion during storm events and improve wet weather resilience.

Southwest of Broken Hill, off the Silver City Highway, work on Netley Road is scheduled to begin in September 2024 to upgrade causeways by stabilising pavements and extending sealed sections.

At Bootra Road, northeast of Broken Hill near Packsaddle, work starts in July to deliver three kilometres of formation improvements and gravel resheeting to help reduce the need for road closures.

Each project is expected to take around three months to complete, weather permitting.

While rain and storms have significant impact on the road network in the far west, and these projects are designed to address that, recent wet weather has had an ecological silver lining.

After high rain fall in January and February, a Transport crew noticed an abundance of plants and animals including the Shield Shrimp (Triops Australianises), in pools of water that formed next to the Cameron Corner Road site.

Known as the 'Shrimp of the outback' it lives in arid parts of Australia and can lay dormant for over seven years until there is enough rainfall for them to hatch and feed.

Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Jenny Aitchison said:

"These four local road projects, totalling around $10 million of NSW Government investment, are critical resilience boosting measures for the road network in the far west.

"Better road surfaces and enhanced safety will be welcomed not only by local residents, emergency services and the mining and farming industries, but also by tourists who enjoy visiting the outback and have not often driven on gravel roads.

"Safer, more resilient roads are vital to the mining, pastoral and cropping industries. To give an example of just how vital these roads are, in some cases they are the only access point for pastoral stations and are therefore critical for the families who live and work there to get to school, medical appointments and to get their goods to and from market."

Cobar Shire Council Mayor Jarrod Marsden said:

"We are delighted to have completed the important upgrade to Wilga Downs Road. Prior to the sealing work this route was closed 15 days per year on average due to rain, with washed out shoulders, forcing speed restrictions to be put in place.

"Every time the road was impassable, it would add around an hour of extra travel time which impacted community members in many ways including missed medical appointments and children not being able to get to school.

"The Shire's prosperity is built around the mining industry of copper, lead, silver, zinc and gold, as well as pastoral and cropping enterprises. Having access on this road during all-weather events will help provide these industries with safe, reliable transport routes.

"The project to upgrade Wilga Downs Road has also provided a local economic boost with more than 1100 hours of work involved."

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