City of Albany reopens Lower Denmark Road as south coast storm clean-up continues

The City of Albany has reopened Lower Denmark Road as the shaken south coast continues to bounce back from a destructive storm that left several small communities isolated. Emergency services, volunteers and City of Albany staff have been working around the clock to repair damage to homes, businesses and roads across the region. South Coast Highway between Albany and Denmark was reopened with restrictions on Tuesday night, with Main Roads WA urging drivers to take “extreme caution”. Main Roads Great Southern manager Andrew Duffield said the highway was opened in two stages. “It was to give access to people initially in the Elleker, Youngs Siding and Torbay area because they were completely isolated, with the Lower Denmark Road being out as well,” he said. “We opened the George Street to Marbelup Road section of the highway first ... that provided access to people in that Elleker, Torbay and Youngs Siding area which happened at about 11.15am Tuesday. “The second opening was the full extent of the highway at 6.20pm on Tuesday.” Mr Duffield said extra resources were pulled into the area to get the work done as quickly as possible. “We were on the ground through the night on Sunday doing the immediate clean-ups, and once the flood waters receded and we could understand the extent of the damage, we got stuck into things on Monday and Tuesday,” he said. “We brought in our own routine maintenance crews from other jobs to focus on getting that section of the road up and running, as well as our contract resources. “It is open, but there is still repair work that needs to be done to get it back to pre-disaster conditions.” Mr Duffield estimated $2 million of damage had been done to the highway. “We have been trying to get the message across that this was a relatively widespread event,” he said. “We have floodways in operation right across the south coast past Ravensthorpe.” The City of Albany opened Lower Denmark Road to traffic in both lanes this morning ending a three-day closure. Thomson Drive remained closed. Yesterday, City infrastructure, development and environment director Paul Camins said the City would open Lower Denmark Road “as soon as possible”. “The City’s priority is Lower Denmark Road as we are aware of the impact this closure is having on a significant number of Albany and Great Southern residents,” he said yesterday. “We are aiming to open this road to traffic as soon as possible. The rest of the week will mainly be spent making the roads as safe as possible — as a result of stormwater damage and fallen trees — before clean-up commences in earnest. “During this time we request residents to remain patient.” Mr Camins said it was still too early to determine the total cost to fix the damage to the City’s road network. The National Anzac Centre reopened yesterday, having closed for two days after losing part of its roof and suffering damage to several exterior wall panels. “The roof has been secured and waterproofed temporarily while we arrange permanent repairs, and the centre is open to the public again,” City executive director community services Nathan Watson said. Mayor Dennis Wellington said the City’s efforts had been focused on removing trees and assessing the damage to its road network. “Some of the road damage is a bit different to what we expected, with water coming from underneath, coming from drainage, and destroying the carpet of the tarmac,” he said. “So we are assessing that and seeing what is necessary to fix all that. “The main one was the Lower Denmark Road, which was the major washout, so there were trucks going in there all day (on Monday and Tuesday) trying to get to a situation where it is at least passable — and then working with the railway to get the railway line fixed up as well, obviously.” A spokeswoman for Arc Infrastructure said repairs to the freight line between Albany and Elleker at Cuthbert were under way, with the line expected to reopen late tomorrow. Track washaways had occurred due to heavy rainfall, causing the rail ballast or formation to be displaced, she said. Mr Wellington praised SES volunteers, emergency services, and City staff. “Everyone has swung into action to make sure that everything is fixed up as quickly as possible,” he said. “It is a very heartwarming thing to see the number of people that have joined in and we wish to thank them very much for all the work they have done and all the work they continue to do.” He said more heavy rain could pose problems. “The biggest problem I think we’ve got into the future is that everything is now so wet, anything else that falls out of the sky, there is no such thing as soaking in, it’s going to run off because it is already full,” he said. “I have lived here for a long time, and we don’t see dramatic experiences like this. “It is something that you don’t normally expect but I guess it’s just Mother Nature telling us she is still in charge.”