Range of construction projects gain momentum
By Sonia Isaacs
THE Hinterland has the unwanted record of the most unsealed roads requiring repair following significant rain events in recent years.
Some 90 per cent of all repairs are across Divisions 1, 5 and 10.
Hinterland communities have been left impacted and unconnected by a series of road defects that resulted from damage to unsealed roads during the 2022 flooding events.
Sunshine Coast Council has identified that repairs to numerous unsealed roads across the region are now on track to be completed by June this year, weather dependent.
Division 5 leads the charge with a whopping 80,000m2 impacted following significant rain damage over the last two years.
The Hinterland has been particularly hard hit with Division 1 (71,260 m2), Division 5 (80,159 m2) and Division 10 (72,868 m2) requiring substantially more repairs (around 90%) compared to other divisions across the Coast.
By comparison, Division 7 and 8 required only 833 m2 and 980 m2 of repair respectively.
These impacted roads are now progressively being re-connected as a range of reconstruction projects gather momentum.
Since the region was hit hard by severe weather events in February and May 2022, Sunshine Coast Council has been busy assessing and fixing public assets across the region.
Group Executive Built Infrastructure, Scott Taylor, confirmed the most impacted local areas during the weather event were Bald Knob, Wootha, Glenview, Eudlo, Coolum, Peachester, Montville and Towen Mountain.
“We sustained significant damage to numerous infrastructure assets which have now been repaired or are currently in the process of having works delivered,” Mr Taylor said.
“There are some unsealed roads where significant sections of the surface were damaged, whereas other roads contain only small areas to be repaired.
“We’ve been working with the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) to secure the funding to reconstruct damaged roads and other civil assets with assistance from the jointly funded Commonwealth and State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).”
Council has been approved funding for different sections of numerous roads and contractors will complete the approved works.
“Council is progressively rebuilding damaged unsealed roads totalling almost 250,000 square metres – which would cover more than 980 tennis courts or over three Suncorp Stadiums – through the DRFA,” he said.
“We thank our community and road users for their patience and driving to the conditions while we have been progressively repairing these roads across the region.”
Council continues to work closely with QRA, all levels of government, along with emergency and community agencies, to support the community as the region continues to navigate the long-term impacts of the 2022 flooding events.
