So much done, so much still to be done. I’ll start with the roads.
Saturday 20th August saw the long awaited opening of the Grampians Tourist Road after months of hard work. After so much effort put in by people from Vicroads, Parks Vic and the contractors, the opening was a bit disappointing. The invitation was for an 11 a.m. commencement. However, when we arrived we stood around cheerfully chatting in the sun before being told that the minister was running late due to fog. Come back in an hour. So off we went to drink coffee and admire Grampians art. We duly returned to the locked gate, still no minister. Meanwhile a queue of cars was forming as the signs in Halls Gap declared the road was now open. Eventually it was decided that the two mayors – of Southern and Northern Grampians – would open the road; and they did so while cameras whirled and so forth. I then drove up to Mt William to enjoy the views and the flowers.
Watching television that night was quite a surprise: the minister opened the road! Apparently, when he finally managed to get here (at 2pm), they relocked the gate so he could have the glory of unlocking it and declaring the road open. Ah, politicians.
But setting aside this cynicism, this is a real achievement and worthy of celebration. Not only is the bitumen connection between Halls Gap and Dunkeld restored, access is now open to all the Parks Vic roads in the area. Parks staff have been working hard to ensure that once the main road was open, so too would most of their network that comes off it. So now the road to Mt William is open, Serra Rd is open, Mirranatwa Gap is open, most of the Victoria Valley is open. Mind you several of these are still extremely slippery. Still closed are Redmans Rd and surrounding roads, the top end of Glenelg River Rd, and several others. A detailed list of what is open and closed is on the Parks Vic website and available at Tourist Information Centres and the like.
VicRoads gave an informative presentation recently on what was involved in reopening this road, and I’ll summarise very briefly: Bridges at Bovine Creek, Fyans Ck No 1, & No 2, and Jimmy’s Ck all required significant repairs and upgrades to abutments and beaching; and at least five major landslips required major works on debris removal and construction of culverts. Some of the repairs are temporary and require drier weather to complete them. Edges and shoulders are still soft.
Vicroads also reported on progress on the Mt Victory Rd. It is now open between Zumsteins and the Mt Difficult Road turnoff to Boroka lookout, and will shortly be open as far as the turnoff to the Sundial Carpark. When that section is opened, Parks Vic also plan to have access to the Sundial Carpark open. (But access to the Wonderland Carpark will take longer). The piece between Halls Gap and Epacris Falls was the most heavily impacted by the rain event. Six major retaining walls are required. The work here is 50% complete, waiting for retaining wall components and plant. Work at two further large and four smaller landslips is also under way. Estimated reopening is late November 2011 (weather permitting). The Silverband Falls Rd is also a Vicroads responsibility. It is already open from the bottom as far as the falls, but the next section is a long way off – approximately May 2012 (subject to the contractors’ programme and weather).
Roadworks will continue on all roads under traffic control for a considerable time after the roads are opened.