00:00We've got some news and updates on the geotechnical assessments we've been
00:04undertaking over the last four weeks as part of the Great Western Highway
00:08closure at Mount Vic Pass. I have just been up there today with the community of Mount Victoria
00:15and speaking with local businesses about the impacts they're feeling and some of the things
00:20that are being done to try and mitigate those issues. With that four weeks worth of geotechnical
00:27assessments we've been able to identify that the causeway has got significant failures underneath
00:34the surface. Just to recap for everyone it's 194 year old convict bridge which is essentially two
00:41dry stone walls with fill in between. That fill has deteriorated significantly. There are gaps and
00:48voids which have made it unstable and as we saw when we were up there there's a significant risk
00:54of collapse of the causeway. But the good news that has come from the geotechnical assessment
00:58is that the bedrock underneath the causeway is solid it's strong and that gives us a feasibility
01:06that we know we can restore the road on the same alignment. Now this will save a significant amount
01:12of time it will mean we won't have to go into finding another route to do that which will reduce
01:18the need for land acquisitions or that sort of assessment work which can take some time.
01:24It is our fastest way home. In order now to proceed we are undertaking in the next couple of weeks
01:30some more piling work so that's where we're drilling into the structure of the road into the causeway
01:36to see how it responds to that work and we're also calling together a group of experts from around the
01:43world and around Australia to help us to develop the solution so that we can restore that access as
01:50quickly as possible. Now I understand how difficult this has been for local community and for local
01:57businesses. As a tourism operator for 20 years before I came to parliament I know how this will be hurting
02:04those communities. That's why in addition to getting this expert group on track we've also been
02:10listening through the task force that we set up to see how we can assist things like ensuring that
02:16signage is better, working with the freight operators to ensure that we have better access to
02:24the causeway. There's a 50 million dollar investment in the Darling Causeway which is being used to
02:31strengthen and widen that route. So far we've put down 5000 tonnes of asphalt so many nights that that
02:40work has been undertaken that is strengthening the road making it more resilient. That will be the
02:45legacy out of this situation because people will have at last a better detour and that's something
02:50that these communities have been calling for at times of heavy traffic on Mount Victoria Pass. In addition
02:57to that we've been working with the freight operators around logbooks so enabling them to work through
03:02with timings. We've also been working with oversized over mass vehicles to ensure that wherever possible
03:10they can get through. We've done some trials some have worked some haven't. We're refining that all
03:15the time to try and keep business going as we go through. And of course we had the tow truck
03:19operators
03:20and other road workers who are there to help direct traffic through. We've now had about 61
03:27tows through the causeway in the time since the closure of the Mount Vic Pass. They are now getting to
03:36the stage
03:36where they're happening in about five or six minutes. We know that this is also a significant
03:41impact on local communities like here in Lithgow. If we look at the white paper that we put out some
03:47months ago now one of the things identified in there was having a bypass through Lithgow which would have
03:53helped this situation. So what we're doing with that 50 million dollar investment in detail
03:58do to us is working with council and I want to thank the mayor and her team for their positive
04:04work
04:04here to try and mitigate this impact on communities as much as possible. Other things we've been doing
04:11is the funding for some of the local councils that are impacted. So Blue Mountains, Bathurst and Lithgow
04:17have all received $15,000 worth of funding. This is on top of a 1.5 million dollar regional events
04:23package which is available across the state which closes at the end of this weekend which is
04:28available for regional communities to attract visitation. The Acting Small Business Commissioner
04:33has been out here and she has been listening to communities as has the Minister for Small Business
04:39and we are working our way through what kind of assistance can be done. But my priority as Roads
04:44Minister is restoration of the route as soon as possible, strengthening that detour and ensuring that
04:51businesses can continue as much as possible. We have to take it to be very serious here. It's a 25
04:57minute
04:58detour. Businesses are not closed. I understand the need for local members to advocate for their communities
05:05and I understand the stress and disruption that this is having on those local communities. But at the end
05:13of the day we've got to keep the message that the Central West, the Blue Mountains are all still open
05:19for
05:19business. People can get there. They're taking sometimes the route less traveled but they are getting there
05:25and we need to help support them by shopping locally as much as we can.
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