Responsibility for maintaining Armidale Road has become the centre of a growing bureaucratic dispute, as closures on other key routes continue to push more traffic onto a road described as both dangerous and chronically underfunded.
With the Armidale–Kempsey Road closed to all but local traffic for several years and Waterfall Way again shut following another landslip, tablelands-to-coast traffic is increasingly being diverted onto Armidale Road, which spurs off the Waterfall Way just past Ebor and connects the Armidale area to Grafton. Locals and freight operators say the increased load is accelerating deterioration on a route already plagued by safety concerns, as well as the equally strained alternative Gwydir Highway between Glen Innes and Grafton, and endangers newly completed work on the Oxley Highway to the south, which was subjected to weekly closures for years, and remains underspeed with single lane closures at Mount Seaview.
Clarence Nationals MP for Clarence Richie Williamson has renewed calls for the NSW Government to commit $17.8 million to address what he says is a growing backlog of defects, arguing the road functions as a critical regional and state link.
“Armidale Road is a critical regional link between the Clarence Valley, the Northern Tablelands and the North Coast, yet years of uncertainty around road reclassification have left Council carrying the financial burden while the road continues to decline,” Mr Williamson said.
Williamson claims there was a process underway to reclassify Armidale Road that was abandoned with the change of Government, and the road has continued to deteriorate since. Clarence Valley Council estimates it will cost approximately $17.8 million to address priority defects and missed funding opportunities over the past three years, during which it refrained from seeking grants while the State Government considered a potential handover.
Mr Williamson said safety was at the heart of the issue.
“This is not about upgrades or gold-plating — this is about fixing dangerous sections of road and keeping people safe,” he said.
“Clarence Valley Council has been clear, consistent and reasonable in its request.”
“The NSW Government must acknowledge the financial burden created by its stalled decision-making and step up with the $17.8 million required to get Armidale Road back to a safe standard.”
Clarence Valley Council Mayor Ray Smith said the termination of the reclassification process had left council responsible for 100 kilometres of road it believes should be state-funded.
“There are significant lengths of the road that require reconstruction, which at $1m per km would be in the millions,” Mayor Smith said.
“It seems unreasonable that the ratepayers of the Clarence Valley should be burdened with maintaining Armidale Road when the vast majority of traffic movements are freight and travellers. The road is used as a State Road and should be funded as such.”
Minister for Roads Jenny Aitchison rejected the claims, saying they were misleading.
“I am disappointed the Clarence Valley Council and the local State MP continue to mislead the community about Armidale Road,” the Minister said.
“Armidale Road, within the Clarence Valley Council area, is categorised a regional road.”
“As a regional road, the local council is responsible for its maintenance.”
Ms Aitchison said Clarence Valley Council had received substantial road funding in recent years.
“In the past three and a half financial years, the Clarence Valley Council has been allocated more than $176 million for roads. This includes tens of millions of dollars in joint state-federal disaster recovery funding,” she said.
Last December the NSW Government had introduced a new evidence-based process for recategorising roads. To date, the Council has not applied for Armidale Road to be reclassified under the new process.
“I encourage Clarence Valley Council to engage with the new recategorisation process, which offers a clear and transparent way to assess whether roads such as Armidale Road may be eligible for recategorisation.”
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