Council
19 June, 2024
To seal or not to seal a road
Eight Esk residents had a meeting on June 14 with Mayor Jason Wendt and Deputy Mayor Helen Brieschke, to discuss and understand the planned upgrades for the northern end of Middle Street.
The planned upgrade consists of sealing the single lane, gravel road with bitumen, making for a six-metre-wide formation, with a four-metre seal, and a double lane widening at the intersection with the highway.
Middle St resident David Evans, who began the enquiry into the project and its necessity, said he was happy to finally be able to communicate with Council, but still didn’t understand the money expenditure.
“I’m really happy they compromised on a single lane instead of the original two lanes, but I still don’t agree or understand the need,” he said.
“All I can do is express my disappointment because I still think it’s a waste of ratepayers’ money.”
One of the main reasons given for the upgrade was due to the maintenance cost of a gravel road, as opposed to a sealed road, with Cr Wendt saying he would seal all roads if he could.
“It’s a gravel road in town, that’s the reason,” he said.
“We’ve listened to you and we’ve pulled the road back. We’ve tried to change to listen to your concerns and try to make it as minimal as we can.”
The planned upgrade will cost around $330,000 and take a few weeks to complete, requiring the clearing of some vegetation, especially pest weeds and, potentially, two koala trees.
No date is set yet for when works will start.
Mr Evans is encouraging people to submit their road upgrade requirements to Council, as he’s gotten a lot of feedback of “roads that need the money more”.
