A West Coast local says they counted around 35 potholes of concern during a 49-minute drive from Highclere to Tullah, as Tasmania’s Premier launches a ‘pothole blitz’.
The resident joined others in raising concerns about the deteriorating state of local roads and the serious threats posed to vehicles using them.
They described some sections of the road as impossible to avoid if faced with oncoming traffic.
One particular stretch, around the 59.5km mark, was labelled ‘OMG WTF’ due to its severity.
In addition to potholes, sections of road where the seal has lifted have made driving conditions uncomfortable and unsafe.
“Like many I travel the road weekly and this is not storm related at all,” the local said.
The state government’s blitz will focus on repairing storm damage on the Bass Highway, with motorists on other roads encouraged to report any hazards to the State Growth roads hotline.
“It’s been bad for power, it’s been also bad for potholes and the extreme weather condition has impacted on our roads,” Premier Jeremy Rockliff said.
“The enemy of roads is water and frost and it’s certainly taken its toll when it comes to the number of potholes that have appeared, particularly across the north-west coast in recent times.”
“We need to ensure that we look further when it comes to pavement presentation, when it comes to ensuring that our roads are robust enough to counter the enemy of water and frost.”
“I’ve asked for a briefing from the Department, an explanation of how we can do better and we need to do better. There is a problem and we’ll fix it.”
