The new priority list for road maintenance may bring relief to some, but for those whose roads have been ‘repaired’ already have little cause for delight.
The list also does not refer to areas that may be deemed a safety risk to pedestrians, such as the footpath featured on the cover of the Independent on May 10 or at the Kooloonbung Creek Bridge in Buller Street, where residents have been lobbying for months for the bridge’s footpath to be repaired appropriately.
Jeffery Sharp, Director Infrastructure Services, said that dangerous footpaths would not be assessed under the new guidelines outlining priority for the inspection and maintenance of roads and transport assets.
“The footpath risk rating system is currently being investigated, however resources are a significant constraint in this area,” Mr Sharp said.
“It should be noted that the footpath behind Panthers [Settlement City] is a private path and currently planned to be rectified by the owners in the near future. Any footpath complaints should be logged with Council for investigation.”
At the end of January this year, Phil Brown, a retired structural steel builder, contacted Council to bring their attention to the poor state of repair of the roadway and walkway at the Kooloonbung Creek Bridge in Buller Street.
“I live overlooking the bridge and, over the last seven years, I have seen many close calls and some small accidents. It is only a matter of time before we have a fatality,” Mr Brown said.
“The pedestrian path over the bridge has become very dangerous, both sides are too narrow.”
Council’s Group Manager, Infrastructure Operations, Gary Randall advised Mr Brown that “a large rut on the roadway and potholes approaching the bridge from William Street were jetpatch repaired on March 2, 2012”.
Mr Randall also advised Mr Brown in March that Council was aware walkways across the bridge “have limited capacity to cater for pedestrian movements, especially during peak holiday seasons”.
“Council is currently investigating design options for pedestrian access improvements in this locality, with the view of implementing a suitable option once Council funds the works.”
While minor repairs were carried out at the location in March, residents say the ‘quick fix’ simply isn’t good enough, with one resident commenting that “when they fill any holes, they just drop a spadeful of bitumen and gravel and don’t even bother to tamp it down properly”.
Phil Brown’s frustrations remain, especially since the gaps in the pavement and road still appear as they did five months ago, when he believes a solution would be quite simple.
“By fitting a metal plate, you could fill the gap and allow the bridge to expand and contract, it would be so simple to fix, only a couple of hours’ work,” Mr Brown said.
“There’s quite a large gap there, imagine someone with a walker or high heels going down that crack. Where are they going to go? Straight into the road.”
