Wollongong City Council is rushing to repair part of the UCI race route before it starts in September.
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Part of the route will see cyclists riding along Harry Graham Drive, which has already been closed for repairs and the installation of rockfall fencing.
More recently there have been two "significant" embankment failures at the northern end of the road caused by the recent heavy rains.
One of the embankment collapses measures almost 100 metres and has created cracking on the road surface.
The other area spans 40 metres and has seen the embankment collapse 1.2 metres below the road level.
The normal process for repairs is that council calls for tenders - a process that takes up to three months - to carry out the work but, according to business papers going before councillors on Monday night, there is no time for that.
So the papers recommend councillors delegate authority to the general manager to get quotes for the repair work - which would be a six-week process.
If the instability is not addressed soon, it is likely that the failures will extend further into the road pavement.
- Wollongong City Council papers on damage to Harry Graham Drive
"This is due to extenuating circumstances, being the risk of further embankment failure causing further extended damage to the road embankment, the pending UCI Road World Championship cycling event planned for September 2022 and the potential restriction on access during the upcoming 2022-23 bushfire season should these works not be expedited," the papers stated.
Harry Graham Drive serves as alternate exit point for Mt Kembla village residents in the event of bushfire and the council papers stated that going out to tender may delay the works until the summer, which would make that exit road unavailable.
The papers stated it is not known exactly what impact the embankment failure may have on September's UCI races but noted it was preferable to have the work finished and the road reopened to traffic prior to the event.
There was also the concern that delaying the work could result in repairs costing council more.
"If the instability is not addressed soon, it is likely that the failures will extend further into the road pavement leading to higher reconstruction costs," the business papers stated.
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Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
