The very rough, uneven and subsided surface was a significant contributing factor when a car was recently washed off the causeway.

Luckily no-one was injured, but if the car had rolled over, or the water level had continued to rise rapidly like it usually does, or if children had been involved, there could easily have been fatalities. 

Despite council being made aware that the water never stops flowing across the causeway, many requests for repairs to teh causeway have been met with the response “we can’t inspect the causeway as there is water flowing of it”, or “repairs will be carried out in the near future”.

We have records of correspondence with council dating back 25 years, yet little significant maintenance work as been done – residents have done more repair work using their own resources than council have has.

If senior council decision makers were prepared to get their feet wet and inspect the causeway properly, they would realise the dangerous state that it is in.

Will it take another accident before any action occurs?

Editor’s note: We contacted MidCoast Council about this issue and this is their response:

The Gunyah Road causeway, like all causeways across the Mid Coast, has been and will continue to be included in our regular inspection cycle, from which periodic maintenance is undertaken as required. While not in perfect condition, it has been assessed as satisfactory (prior to this recent flooding event) in terms of performance to cater for the required volume of local traffic over the creek in that location.

With our current focus on improving local infrastructure, causeway upgrades/replacement works are part of our forward Capital Works Program and at this stage, an upgrade of the causeway at Bobin (along with others) is planned in the short term, which will see the work undertaken within the next three years.

In the meantime, it’s important to note that causeways in general are repeatedly challenged by floodwaters, an inherent complication for this type of infrastructure. Following the recent rain event, our operations crews are currently working towards inspections of local causeways, a standard practice that occurs after any flooding event. At this point, the inspections are rolling out as floodwaters recede, and any repair works that are required will be programmed accordingly.

It’s also timely to remind all road users to drive to the prevailing conditions and, under no circumstances should anyone attempt to drive through floodwaters. Many dangers exist in this regard such as high velocity streams pushing vehicles away downstream, or debris hitting vehicles whilst crossing. We endorse and will continue to promote the “If It’s flooded, forget it” safety message.