Dapto residents have been urged to avoid Darkes Road after a dangerous bridge forced the partial closure of the flood-prone road.
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Wollongong City Council urged residents to follow signs and refrain from driving near the area after a portion of the road was closed due to a failure in the bridge approach.
The road surface connecting to the second bridge on Darkes Road, just east of the Australian Motorlife Museum, has fallen away leaving a significant gap on the south-west corner of the bridge.
"This road has been closed as an urgent matter of public safety and I ask that people refrain from driving past the roadblocks and ignoring the illuminated VMS signage,'' Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said.
"If you see photographs of the road, it's clearly damaged and you can see that it has been undermined by the creek during recent wet weather. No one would think this is safe to drive across.
"I appreciate that for residents who use Darkes Road to get to and from their homes or to visit the Integral Energy Park this is an inconvenience, and we didn't make the decision to close the road lightly. But our residents' safety is our number one priority.''
Council has inspected the bridge and have sought expert geotechnical advice on next steps for its repair.
It plans to fast-track any works and will require the support of specialist contractors to carry out this work.
Harry Graham Drive, Mt Keira Road - between Picton Road and the RFS Depot - and Clive Bissell Drive - at Mt Ousley Road - also remain closed as work is carried out to repair the roads following landslips, water overflow and fallen trees.
"We had work scheduled for Harry Graham Drive already, but this weather has thrown a real curveball at us in terms of that project,'' general manager Greg Doyle said.
"The land and the road surface on Harry Graham is so unstable at the moment, it's unsafe to have anyone on the ground while we are carrying out work.
"At Mt Keira Road and on Clive Bissell Drive we've had teams working across the week to repair the rockfall protection barriers that have done their job and been damaged in the process, cleaning silt off the road surface and cleaning out the drainage systems."
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
