Dubbo Regional Council temporarily closes deteriorating Saxa Road for works

DRC has implemented the temporary road closure of the deteriorating Saxa Road with a 'local traffic only' and a 'no truck entry' with the exception of local deliveries.

Deliveries to rural properties on Saxa Road between the Golden Highway and Gollan Road and Muronbung Road to the Mitchell Highway will be allowed.

Adequate signage including 'Road Closed', 'Local Traffic Only', 'No Truck Entry' and '4.5 tonne GVM' and a widespread communications program will be implemented.

Concerned resident Mark Conn addressed council on Thursday, October 27 asking for something to be done about the road "immediately".

"I would have loved to have done a PowerPoint tonight to really show some of the damage," he said.

Mr Conn explained in the 1960s a local farming group tried to get funding for Saxa Road because the last 24 kilometres was gravel, however they were unsuccessful.

In the 1990s, the floodway got damaged and the farmers worked together with Wellington Council to do a "quick emergency repair" and within a week the road was back to normal.

"A group of us then got together and created a list of all the accidents and things that had gone wrong on this road and the cost to local council. We went to local, state and federal governments and the first few times we were unsuccessful however we were successful in getting $7.67 million to get us started," he said.

"However this road has become like a second Newell Highway and needs a lot of attention."

The current rain events haven't helped the road according to Mr Conn, who explained the causeway has been damaged again as well as the road pavement.

"We need all three levels of government to pull in...this is not about potholes for us this is about access," he said.

Councillor Vicki Ethridge said Saxa Road had become a serious issue and "was very, very unsafe" so it was important to close it off to heavy vehicles.

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DRC director infrastructure Luke Ryan said they have restricted access through concrete blocks to slow vehicles and to stop a certain sized vehicle from entering.

"The 'no truck' signage component allows council to enforce that trucks can't go past unless they have reason to be there," he said.

"Local traffic, residents, school busses and trucks that have a purpose can get through."

Cr Josh Black acknowledged the council staff for their ongoing work on Saxa Road despite the wet weather events.

"This is an opportunity for the State Government grant funding to fix this road to a safe standard, we have a lot of agriculture produce that moves from this area and Dubbo Council can't afford to upgrade to a safe standard," he said.

"We really need State and possibly Federal funding to come in and partner with us...we need to make the road safer and it can be solved with money and money needs to come from the government."

Deputy mayor Richard Ivey said the problem is that in the 1990s the road wasn't upgraded to a BW truck standard.

"Restricting road access to heavy vehicles is the right move, in doing so the heavy transport sector needs to start lobbying the government for this road to be upgraded," he said.

"It is an important transport route for the whole state."

Cr Jessica Gough has had first hand experience of what it is like when something goes wrong on Saxa Road.

"My partner has tipped a truck on this road and it's quite scary...to have someone close to you tip a truck, it looks scary," she said.

"We need to do something sooner rather than later."

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