LOCALS are describing roadworks to a busy freight route as “shocking” after the bitumen started to fall apart less than a week after upgrades were completed.
Maintenance work to about 4km of Kingston Road, between Loxton and Pyap, began in early May and finished last week.
Kingston Road resident Tim Schubert described the state of the roadworks as “beyond a joke”.
“I’ve never seen a road done so poorly,” he said.
Mr Schubert said the road, with visible holes and drop-offs, poses safety concerns.
“With all the taxes we pay… I don’t know who to blame,” he said.
Mr Schubert said the traffic noise from Kingston Road was also a concern.
“I would hate to live closer (to the road),” he said.
“We live probably 500m off the road and we can hear it over the TV inside the house.
“We might have heard the occasional ‘semi’, but now we are hearing cars.”
Loxton Waikerie Mayor Leon Stasinowsky said while the road belongs to the State Government, he was “very disappointed with the standard of the job”.
“I was very surprised to see that it has been line marked and apparently finished,” he said.
“I thought there at least would have been another coat.”
Meanwhile, Member for Chaffey Tim Whetstone said he was “disappointed” about the road’s state and spoke to Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Corey Wingard, about the works last week.
“They gave me a commitment that it will be repaired,” he said.
“I am disappointed that we are seeing this standard of workmanship in the region.”
Mr Whetstone said he has sought a report on the road maintenance issues.
“This road has a high traffic volume and to be deteriorating so soon after the completion of resurfacing work is extremely frustrating and obviously, just not good enough,” he said.
“Not only is this frustrating for local road users, but it presents a safety issue for those using this stretch of road.”
A Department for Infrastructure and Transport spokesperson said the work was completed by a contractor on behalf of the department.
“Unfortunately, the road sustained some damage soon after completion of the works,” the spokesperson said.
“This was due to a combination of weather conditions and the amount of heavy vehicle movements on that section of road, which includes several nearby driveway access points and the Stott Highway junction.
“The contractor repaired the damage on Friday, June 4 and is monitoring the road.”