5 July 2023
Southern Downs residents can expect increased activity on the road network and additional construction crews being deployed across the region to undertake flood repairs, with final approvals for last year’s flood event now secured.
Southern Downs Regional Council will continue delivering on its extensive flood recovery road repair program to restore essential public roads damaged by five natural disaster events.
With an estimated total repair bill of $52.5m, more than 600 individual roads across the region will have been repaired through the works program funded by the Australian and Queensland governments’ Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) and Council since 2020 February.
Southern Downs Mayor Vic Pennisi said Council had been working closely with DRFA and external qualified contractors to deliver safer and more flood resilient roads amid challenging times.
“The flood recovery journey is long and complex with many moving parts that are not always in our direct sphere of influence,” Mayor Pennisi said.
“However, we have continued to move forward and we expect that a significant number of road restoration projects will be completed shortly.
“Council has certainly faced unprecedented challenges in navigating consecutive flood events coupled with nation-wide resourcing issues.
“It has been a massive undertaking to reach this point and I commend our crews for their determination and work ethic during difficult times.
“We also want to alert the community to the fact that selected works will need to be undertaken on weekends to ensure completion time frames are met and to improve efficiency and cost effectiveness of the works.
“We ask the community to please give our crews the space they need to safely and efficiently complete these important works to restore our region’s roads.”
Additional resources will be directed on repairing defects in the sealed road network, with multiple Council crews and contractors working across the region in the coming months.
Due to a significant backlog of existing road defects pre-dating the flood events, Council is formalising a budget for complementary works and will prioritise these based on safety and fiscal value. The estimated cost of all additional repairs is approximately $10m. Any unfunded defects will remain on the backlog list and be attended to when budget and time allow. With these constraints, Council will not immediately be in a position to fix every defect on the region’s sealed road network with current funding, and works will need to be prioritised.
The DRFA-funded works have been approved by the Queensland Reconstruction Authority, with complementary works funded by Council. Council will use funds from external programs to undertake complementary works.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Restoration works from the February 2020 flood have been completed with a price tag of $9m.
• The $7m restoration works from the March 2021 flood were completed by the end of June 2023, with associated betterment works due for completion by September 2023.
• Works from the November 2021 event are also due for completion by the end of December 2023 at a cost of $3.3m.
• Approvals for the restoration works associated with flood events from February through to May 2022 are now finalised, with a total estimated value of $32.6m, of which $10.5m has already been completed. These works are expected to be completed by end of June 2024.
• Repairs to sealed roads in the Killarney and Stanthorpe areas commenced in May 2023.
• In addition to the pavement repairs, Council will be completing the restoration program on the unsealed road network by July 2023, after which normal maintenance programs will resume.
• There are also a number of structures scheduled for repair, replacement or upgrade, depending on the funding allocation. These sites include Merivale Street, Glen Niven Road, Goldfields Road, Talgai West Road, Kital Road, Cosmo Lane and Lyndhurst Lane.
• Council has three other funding submissions for upgrade works under review with the Queensland Reconstruction Authority.
Last edited date 05 Jul 2023