THE Riverland is now welcoming visitors from New South Wales back down the Sturt Highway after South Australian Police reopened the road to some interstate traffic last week.
Travellers from New South Wales intending to enter South Australia are allowed to enter using the Sturt Highway from Mildura to Yamba as long as they do not leave their vehicle in Victoria, following a new cross border travel direction which came into effect last Thursday.
Member for Chaffey Tim Whetstone told the Murray Pioneer the new direction was a “leap of faith” by the state’s Transition Committee.
“It is another step towards the other side of COVID,” he said.
“The Sturt Highway opening up is a leap of faith by the transition committee and I congratulate them on that.
“I think that border has served us well through COVID, but now as we move forward, relaxing those restrictions I think is great news.”
Destination Riverland general manager Ben Patten said the improved road access brought about by the new direction was “critical” for the region’s tourism industry.
“It has a defining influence on where people choose to travel,” he said.
“Dirt roads and less than ideal routes do have an impact on tourism, particularly for interstate travellers, and the Riverland would definitely be affected by that.”
Mr Patten said the opening of the Sturt Highway to traffic from New South Wales would lead to more interstate travellers coming to the Riverland.
“Any type of improvement for us in interstate access, particularly coming into the Christmas period, I think would be beneficial,” he said.
“Regional Victoria is also a key market for the Riverland so we would love to see regional Victoria looked at next if possible.
“Certainly, looking forward into that Christmas and New Year period, regional Victorian travellers being able to access the Riverland and South Australia safely would be beneficial to the region.
“It’s critical that everything is done safely though.
“While we are supportive of restrictions being lifted, they have to be done safely, but anything we can do to expedite that and to improve tourism outcomes heading into Christmas is a positive from our perspective and certainly from the region’s perspective.”
The decision will reduce traffic on the unsealed Wentworth Road, which had been the main access point for travellers from New South Wales heading to the Riverland since borders were reopened on September 24.
The increased traffic had led to damage to the road and multiple rollovers, with the State Government grading the road over the weekend.
Infrastructure and Transport Minister Corey Wingard visited Wentworth Road with Mr Whetstone on Saturday, with Mr Whetstone calling for further works to improve the road.
“The road is now being graded, but it doesn’t fix up what has been a historically bad road,” he said.
“I wanted to be able to demonstrate to Minister Wingard the importance of the Wentworth Road, now more than ever with the borders opening between New South Wales and South Australia.
“There’s also a safety aspect and there have been people who refuse to drive on the road in their trucks because it just rattles them to bits.”
Mr Wingard told the Murray Pioneer the State Government would “keep watch” of the situation along Wentworth Road to determine if further works were required.
“Given COVID, we know the road here has copped an unusual battering that it wouldn’t normally from traffic, so we’ve just been out here and they’ve been grading it and making sure it’s up to standard,” he said.
“We’re doing these works at the minute, and we’ll keep a very close eye on it.
“Even just speaking to the police here, they’ve noted that there’s been a drop off on the Wentworth Road traffic.
“But things can change so we just want to be as prepared as we can – if the traffic does increase again we want to make sure the road’s in good enough nick and we’ll keep monitoring that.”
The number of interstate travellers from New South Wales increased from 2432 in the week of September 18 to 9489 for the week of September 25.
Nearly 14,000 travellers entered South Australia from New South Wales last week.