Road repairs approved

REQUESTS to hasten road repairs on Top Swanfels Road have been heeded by Southern Downs Regional Council with a raft of funding now approved.
Councillors voted in favor of fast-tracking flood damage repairs and/or to improve Top Swanfels Road during the council’s monthly meeting last Wednesday.
According to the council report, Top Swanfels Road was extensively damaged during the December 2010, January 2011 and more recent flood events.
Claims for repairs under NDRRA requirements were lodged with the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) and further damage occurred to the road in January 2013.
Works valved at $2,386,640 have now been approved by the QRA on 7 June. Council’s contractors were expected to undertake the works during September this year.
Council can choose to carry out the 2013 works without approval but risks receiving no funding for the works and as such risks claimable works being funded by the ratepayers.
Based on the notion that the road needs to be improved beyond flood repairs, capital works would need to be allocated by the council.
However, there were no works currently planned in the council’s capital works budget.
If the council wishes to improve the road, it would need to reallocate $100,000 per kilometre of length to the road.
The funds will need to be taken from other projects currently proposed in the 2013/2014 budget.
Similar roads exist throughout the region but locally include Emu Creek Road, McMasters Road, Gambubal Road and the Condamine River Road.