BYRON SHIRE Council recently introduced a new Road Patrol Service to allow for a faster response to fixing potholes and other problems on local roads.
The new patrol truck will be fitted out with a range of equipment to do minor repairs and make the road safe until it can be properly fixed.
General Manager, Ken Gainger, said the patrol truck will locate and report road problems such as potholes and will be able to temporarily repair dangerous pot holes until the road maintenance crew arrives to fix them properly.
[xyz-ihs snippet=”Servo”]
“The repair will only be temporary but at least the hole in the road is rendered safe to drive on, “Mr Gainger said.
“I expect the team that operates out of the patrol truck will be our ‘eyes’ on the Shire’s roads and staff will be responsible for spotting problems, and either fixing them immediately and/or logging and reporting them so proper maintenance can be carried out,” he said.
“In all of the feedback the community gives us the poor quality of our road network is the number one concern and this is a new initiative that will show our residents that we are hearing them and doing our best to make things better.
“This is a proactive solution that will significantly improve the timeliness of repairs and improvements to drainage and signage,” Mr Gainger said.
The Road Patrol vehicle will also have a lot of other equipment on board and this means staff can undertake a wide range of ‘smaller’ jobs that they spot whilst driving around the Shire.
“It might be as simple as stopping to prune vegetation that is growing over a sign or cleaning graffiti.
“I am most proud of the effort Council has made in the last several years to address a backlog in infrastructure funding and this year (2017/18) we will spend $40 million on infrastructure.
“This is up from $3.7 million in 2012/13 and whilst I admit Byron Shire Council still has a long way to go, we have certainly made significant improvements,” Mr Gainger said.
Mr Gainger states the new Road Patrol Service will do ‘smaller’ jobs too.
“It might be as simple as stopping to prune vegetation that is growing over a sign or cleaning graffiti.
A ‘prune’ of vegetation growing over signs will take a bit more than to be in the category of ‘smaller’ pruning jobs & this is not just summer growth! Sally Wattle at the Yelgun roundabout looking left to the highway when driving north along Tweed Valley Way, blocking vision of vehicles exiting the highway is just one of hundreds or could we say, thousands blocking road signs & roads. 4 scrappy sally wattles covered in vines blocking vision (of the road out of Billinudge)l driving from Billinudgel & The Pocket Roads. Massive trees, vines, tall grasses, etc etc, on the left of the Marshalls Crk bridge, driving onto Billinudgel Rd & The Pocket Road, around the corners need the follow-up to the great initial clean-up (after almost a 3yr of notices/request of danger) just before Christmas by Council & where traffic control had to be involved. Really hard to whipper snip around/amongst that ‘safety fence’ on the bridge too. Jillian Spring