Black Range Road safety concerns
The recent heavy rain event has extenuated concerns over the condition of some of Black Range Road’s unsealed sections.
Black Range Road’s resealing is a current project of the Yass Valley Council which has received funding from the Federal Government.
The Council is currently behind schedule in resolving some of the issues on the road with the project status still “in planning” despite the original expectation it would be started and complete by the end of March.
A long-time resident of Black Range Road, John McGrath remains deeply concerned about the road’s safety despite the improvements made in recent years, particularly with the daily traffic increasing “exponentially” due to newly approved subdivisions.
He believes that whilst locals are familiar with the road and are aware of which areas to drive extra cautiously through, visitors are left with little hope of avoiding the potholes.
“The issue is that dirt sections are badly holed and regularly get washed out longitudinally, leaving deep gutters, whilst locals are aware to some extent of existing extremely deep potholes, the people unfamiliar with the road are met with a bone-shattering suspension destroying hit,” said John.
It’s John’s belief the most recent upgrades have done little to increase the road’s safety and have itself created a new safety concern.
“The recent upgrade over these culverts is not ideal as to the north side of the thoroughfare there is now a steeply banked gutter which could potentially see a small vehicle hopelessly trapped if it had to move aside for a larger oncoming vehicle,” he said.
What has been your experience driving on the Black Range Road?
Write to editor@yassvalleytimes.com.au
Max O’Driscoll
