By William Knight
Galston Road through Galston Gorge is on track to temporarily reopen to motorists in early June, after being closed since the end of February.
Transport for NSW Chief Operations Officer Howard Collins said he was pleased traffic will soon flow again through the Gorge.
“Transport for NSW closed Galston Road through Galston Gorge on 28 February after unprecedented rainfall caused landslides that deposited rocks, soil and trees onto the road surface,” Mr Collins said.
“Our maintenance crews worked hard to clear the road, but the deluge of rain meant there were some instabilities on the Gorge’s slopes that could cause further landslides and put road users at risk.
“Safety is paramount so we needed to take time to assess these problem areas, devise a remediation strategy and then complete the necessary works.
“After many hours of hard work on the steep slopes of Galston Gorge, the road is now close to being reopened. A safety measure of a 40km/ hr stop-slow zone in one section of road on the Galston side of the Gorge will be in place.”
Trailer-mounted traffic lights for single lane access will safely guide motorists along the section of Galston Road that lies above a damaged drystone retaining wall. However, further stabilisation work on the site will need to be carried out later in the year, meaning Galston Road through Galston Gorge will close to traffic again as the single use lane will be required to position large equipment. The exact dates are yet to be determined.
“This significant engineering work is expected to take around four months to complete and cannot be undertaken now because environmental approvals are required before work can start,” Mr Collins said.
“Large machinery will be needed and workers will be placed in a high-risk zone, so a partial opening during this phase of work won’t be possible for safety reasons.”
The stabilisation work will strengthen the retaining wall and is a preventative measure to reduce the chances of future road closures.
Transport for NSW understands the closure of the road has been an inconvenience for the local community, but safety is our priority.
We thank the community for their patience during this time. For more information, please go to https://nswroads.work/GalstonRd
For more information, please go to https://nswroads.work/GalstonRd
