Mayor of The Hills Shire Council, Dr Peter Gangemi said construction has been completed on Stage One of the Halcrows Road Repair and Rehabilitation Project – one of a number of high-profile road repair projects this Council is working on.
Stabilisation works commenced in November to repair the rural thoroughfare, located in Cattai, after it sustained significant damage when it was used as a detour road because of the July 2022 flood.
This saw greater volumes of trucks, emergency vehicles and residents using Halcrows Road to access homes, properties and businesses, as well as reach flood affected sites and other parts of The Hills, Hawkesbury and further afar.
The first stage involved recycling the existing pavement and strengthening it with additives to provide a stronger more durable pavement.
Meanwhile, Stage Two, which is the final stage of repair and rehabilitation works, is planned to commence in early 2023 and will include further asphalt patching in other damaged sections of Halcrows Road.
"These initial works included the stabilisation of approximately 2.5km of Halcrows Road," Mayor Gangemi said.
"The scale of damage from both the floods and the unprecedented rain was significant and this resulted in Council needing to work with external contractors, who could provide expert assistance to rebuild this road.
"The safety of our residents and motorists using Halcrows Road is of paramount importance, and I'm proud to see progress being made to return this thoroughfare to a standard that our residents have been calling for.
"While Stage One was a huge project, more work is scheduled and Council anticipates this will occur early in 2023," Mayor Gangemi added.
Council successfully secured $458,071 under the Transport for NSW Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangement towards road rehabilitation works on Halcrows Road.
Council has also committed approximately $292,000 towards additional road and drainage improvements.
"I want to thank Transport for NSW for their support on this project," Mayor Gangemi said.
"We are still in conversation with the State Government to see what other support they can offer us to help fix our road network, which has been impacted from multiple flooding disasters and record-breaking rain.
"The cost to repairs our roads is significant and beyond Council's scope, and we are calling on the State Government for their help to get our roads back to their pre-rain standard."
Mayor Gangemi also thanked residents for their patience and understanding as work continues.
"Our roads are a priority," he said.
"They've deteriorated quicker than our roads modelling could have predicted under theses severe weather events, however, we are working as quick as we can to repair the damage while navigating labour, material and other supply chain issues.
"In the meantime, I do encourage all motorists using Halcrows Road to drive to the conditions, and please slow down when you see roadworks happening," he added.
