Riverina MP Michael McCormack on Wednesday vowed to cover half the cost of sealing Dunns Road at a cost of $2.5 million – if the Coalition is re-elected – which will be matched by council.

Gavin King, who has owned a 100-acre property on the town side of Dunns Road for 17 years, said the road was in a state of disrepair and motorists’ lives were in danger. 

"I'm surprised there hasn't been more fatalities there,” Mr King said.

“A lot more goes on than people realise in terms of near misses and smaller crashes.

"The road has a lot of traffic volume for the state it's in and a lot of cars speed down it.

"It's not just a case of resealing the road, if they want it to be an 80km/h road, they need to improve the sight and stopping distance.

"They need to knock the tops off some of the hills and flatten the road out in spots.”

The undulating road is a notoriously treacherous combination of gravel and bitumen, typically used by locals to travel between Uranquinty and Lake Village or Tolland. 

Three weeks ago, Gelston Park resident Gary Gurtner claimed he nearly came off his motorcycle after hitting a pothole on Dunns Road.

“I hit a hole and nearly came off my motorcycle, it’s disgraceful,” Mr Gurtner said.

“It’s a deathtrap waiting to claim another life.

“There’s no alignment on the road, you come over a crest and the road darts left and right without warning.

“It was originally a dirt track, then they widened it, then sealed the crest of the hills to avoid head on collisions, but it was never done properly.”

Another Dunns Road resident, Tony Balding, hoped council’s decision wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction in response to election pork-barreling.

“Dunns Road itself is extremely costly to upgrade, but if it’s part of a long-term plan for southern access, then it’s money well spent,” Mr Balding said.

“I think it would be wise to consider long-term bypass routes rather than invest so much money upgrading it.

“This needs to be discussed in context of Wagga's long-term local environment plan, as future land developments are going to be south of the city.”

Council general manager Alan Eldridge said the upgrade was considered in the yet to be released $240,000 Integrated Transport Study.