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Diversions will remain on Reserve Creek Road for at least 6 months after a geotechnical assessment found the roadway to be significantly undermined and too dangerous for temporary repairs.
Council is excavating the remaining road to prevent motorists from by-passing barricades blocking the roadway, which was severely damaged by a major landslide during the recent flood.
It is expected Reserve Creek Road will be closed for 6–12 months, in the area of the landslip.
Council’s Manager Roads and Stormwater Danny Rose said the geotechnical assessment provided an understanding of the full extent of the flood damage to Reserve Creek Road.
“To ensure the safety of road users, Reserve Creek Road will remain closed until permanent repairs can be made,” Mr Rose said.
“Unfortunately there are no reasonable short-term repair options for this road, with the road significantly undermined by a 15-metre near-vertical landslip.
“Additional cracking has also been observed in the road surface, telling us the pavement is unstable and could give way at any time, particularly with the next rainfall.”
Crews are on site this week to remove the unstable section of the road and install additional barricades. Further geotechnical investigations will follow to determine the permanent repair to the road.
“To those who use Reserve Creek Road, especially residents of the area, we apologise for any inconvenience and ask for your patience as we work towards a more permanent repair,” Mr Rose said.
“Roads are closed to keep motorists safe. Tampering with road closed signs or barriers is a serious offence and could result in someone being hurt or killed. Please don’t remove or tamper with them.”
Further geotechnical assessments are underway at several other sites in the Tweed, including at Scenic Drive at Bilambil Heights and Tyalgum Road, near Tyalgum, where major landslips occurred.
A slope used by motorists to drive through the major slip on Tyalgum Road has been removed by Council crews and motorists are reminded again not to attempt to cross this dangerous slip.
Council estimates damage to the Tweed’s road network by the recent flood could cost around $40 million and take up to 2 years to repair, with more than 1,700 repair jobs already logged – and rising.
For more information and to keep up to date with what’s happening on the roads, visit MyRoadInfo or the Tweed Emergency Dashboard.
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