River McCrossen
04 July 2024, 9:20 PM
Think your road should be receiving more TLC? There's now an opportunity to name the roads you think should be getting attention.
Trangie truck driver Tim Ferrari had a close call only a couple weeks ago on the Widgeree Road, which branches west from the town towards Bogan Shire.
"I met a truck on a corner. We were both loaded and if it was wet I think I would have rolled my truck."
He said that Narromine Shire should prioritise the road for repairs and upgrades.
"It's a fairly busy road with a lot of produce coming and going," Tim said
"The bitumen width on it is single, but it drops off. When you meet another truck, and if you're both loaded, it's very dangerous.
"If some trees and shrubs can get knocked out, just so you could see and prepare yourself if something else was coming on corners, it would be a start.
"It's hard to just go and resheet 40 kilometres of road, but if they can do dips and drabs every year, it'd be good."
Tim and other motorists will have a chance to make their voices heard in a national road survey launched by the Liberal-National Coalition on 21 June.
Residents can pop in the name of a road, bridge or intersection, along with a what they think can be done to fix it.
The survey will be open until 5pm on 30 August 2024.
Federal Nationals member for Parkes Mark Coulton. PHOTO: supplied
“As someone who regularly travels across hundreds of kilometres within the Parkes electorate, I know first-hand how terrible some parts of the road network have become,” Federal Parkes MP Mark Coulton said.
“I’m calling on the residents of the Parkes electorate to help shine a light on the appalling condition of our roads by taking part in this national survey.
"Let’s send the Labor Government a message to provide more funding to fix our roads.”
Narromine mayor Craig Davies agreed Widgeree Road is in strong need of a face lift, along with Weemabah and Enmore roads, the three totalling around 70 to 80 kilometres.
"They are very heavy freight corridors," Cr Davies said.
"They have deteriorated to the point where they're basically dangerous in places."
Cr Davies said Narromine Shire has struggled to maintain all it's roads and, like many Western Plains shires, relies heavily on grants from the federal and state governments.
"A council the size of Narromine, which our income, is just finding it really difficult to look after all our roads."
"The fact is there's just been so much cost shifting from state and federal governments to local government in the past decade to the extent where federal assistance grants are now half what they used to be and our cost structure is probably in the order of almost double."
If you have a road to nominate for repair or upgrade, take advantage of the national road survey.