The WA government is praising emergency services who worked to reopen the Great Northern Highway
The Western Australian government has announced that a section of its Great Northern Highway between Broome and Derby has reopened.
The highway has reopened to traffic for the first time since the recent flood emergency.
The road was first closed on New Year’s Eve when floodwaters began impacting the highway near Willare.
Around 10 kilometres of the highway was badly damaged by the floodwaters, including around three kilometres that were completely washed away.
A 40-person road reconstruction team has been working for the past three weeks to clean up debris and build a single-lane gravel track, that would allow the highway to be reconnected.
As part of the staged reopening, vehicles will be escorted through in alternating east and west convoys, using the single lane gravel track under speed restrictions.
The reopening is occurring in two stages:
- Stage 1 – access to all vehicles from Thursday February 9 through to Sunday February 12 between the hours of 8am and 4pm only.
- Stage 2 – escorted access to all vehicles from Monday February 13 one-way, twice daily:
- Derby side (east) convoys leaving at 7.30am and 4.30pm
- Broome side (west) convoys leaving at 8am and 5pm
It is anticipated the second stage of the reopening will be in place for up to two weeks or until crews can get the road widened to be able to operate safely under two-lane traffic flows. Limiting access during the second stage is required to allow road crews to add a second lane to the temporary gravel track.
RELATED ARTICLE: The future of Australia’s road network
Permanent repair works to be undertaken in the dry season.
All vehicles will need to follow the direction of traffic controllers and drive to the reduced speed limit.
Crews will be monitoring the weather and road conditions and if necessary short-term closures may be implemented if the unsealed conditions deteriorate due to further significant rainfall.
“Over the past three weeks, our road reconstruction crews have done a tremendous job in difficult conditions,” WA transport minister Rita Saffioti says.
“Many of the workers have been staying in camps, away from family and friends, to make sure we reconnect this stretch of highway as fast as possible.
“The first convoy went through this morning, which is the first time traffic has been able to travel though this section of the Great Northern Highway since it was closed on New Year’s Eve.
“Over the coming weeks, our focus will be on building a second lane to the gravel track, so we can get traffic moving in both directions.”