Residents of Mount Elliot are concerned that Tapley Rd is in such bad repair that a huge landslip is inevitable and are calling on Central Coast Council to take immediate action.
Spokesperson Tony Hill said Council was informed of the precarious condition of the road in the first week of May.
“About seven days later, a Council engineer telephoned me and asked me for details (and) I clearly told him that this road was slipping and had slipped before in exactly the same location back in the early 1970s,” Hill said.
He said a Council crew arrived the following day to deal with the problem but described the results as “pathetic”.
“All they did was scrap off the damaged asphalt and then manually place a layer of fresh asphalt over the area, which created even more of a hazard for traffic (coming) down the hill,” he said.
“Undulating or uneven asphalt creates vehicle traction problems, particularly on a descent when the surface is wet.”
Hill said Council placed signage and a couple of blinking lights to warn motorists to slow down, which would be ineffective, with many motorists already ignoring speed limits in the area.
He claimed a natural watercourse running under the road had been identified during rectification works done in the early ‘70s and suggested the road should be closed pending further expert investigation.
“The ‘repaired’ asphalt completely opened up or moved within 48 hours after (the) repair job,” he said.
“The earth cracks extend down this steep embankment onto a private property and across its driveway; if a slip occurs it will be huge.”
Hill said the landowner was carrying out private prevention works to stop the road from slipping onto his driveway at great personal expense.
“The road is still open; heavy vehicles are still using (it) daily, including a large school bus which passes over this section of road four times a day,” he said.
Hill said land clearing further up the mountain, together with heavy rains in recent months, had likely affected the volume of water carried by underground streams.
A Council spokesperson said a number of sites across the region had been affected by embankment failures following severe storm events in February and March.
“Council is aware of the landslip at Tapley Rd, Mount Elliot,” the spokesperson said.
“Council staff investigated the landslip and placed road warning signage at the location on May 12.
“Further interim works were carried out on May 14 to seal the damaged pavement area with asphalt and prevent further water ingress; however Council ids aware some further damage has occurred.
“Council is continuing to monitor the site while a geotechnical assessment is undertaken and remediation plans are being established.”
Terry Collins
This situation is beyond dangerous. Warning signs are hidden in grass. Only 1 light works. The slip is 1M deep and approx 10m long.
The resident being impacted by this is very elderly and is extremely distressed. His driveway, fencing and power pole are all slipping. Ausgrid want $10000 to move his power pole. He has spent thousands trying to repair his property and huge cracks are opening up daily. Council will not take responsibility.
Stop/ go lights are needed.
Something needs to be done urgently otherwise we will have another Somersby disaster on our hands.
Concil at the time of this publication sealed the edge of the road at no time was it ever stated it was a repair What a lot of people fail to understand is that this road repair is major requiring lots of personal and equipment along with engineering. Unfortunately these types of road issues take time I’m sure council ate doing there best…