Wagga Council in dispute with TfNSW over responsibility for repairs to Coolamon Road after flood diversions

The condition of Coolamon Road has steadily declined in recent months, with motorists decrying the poor state of the thoroughfare, which is maintained by Wagga and Coolamon councils.

A series of bad potholes on a section of the road in the Wagga LGA was recently labelled a "death waiting to happen" by the principal of St Michael's Primary School, Brendan Flanagan, who uses the road daily.

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Mr Flanagan also said roadworks signs had been up for several months and claimed Wagga council had no intention of doing anything about it.

The council's director of infrastructure services, Warren Faulkner, hit back at the claims, saying council was aware of the "localised pavement failures on Coolamon Road" and blamed it on the fact the road was used as the Sturt Highway detour during last year's floods.

"The road was used as the detour for traffic from the Sturt Highway for approximately 8-10 weeks prior to Christmas whilst it was under water between Collingullie and Narrandera due to flooding of the Murrumbidgee River," Mr Faulkner said.

As the highway is a state road, Mr Faulkner claimed the government is therefore responsible to fix the road.

"Council is disappointed that Transport for NSW has not undertaken any repairs of the damage, which is directly attributable to the detour of the Sturt Highway," he said.

Transport for NSW countered the claim, laying the responsibility for the road's maintenance squarely at the council's feet.

A spokesperson said funding was available for damage caused due to the floods.

"Natural disaster assistance is available to all LGAs impacted by declared natural disasters, which include recent flooding events," the spokesperson said.

Transport for NSW said it would support the council in identifying funds for repairs.

"TfNSW will continue to work with Wagga council to determine what funding can be directed to address this and other road-related matters stemming from the recent weather events," the spokesperson said.

Coolamon Shire general manager Tony Donoghue said his council recently asked its Wagga counterparts to review the state of Coolamon Road.

"Access into and out of Wagga was raised by the councillors [at our last meeting] and we wrote a letter to Wagga Council requesting them to review the Coolamon Road," Mr Donoghue said.

Coolamon mayor David McCann said while the road was generally "very well maintained", there have been some issues of late.

"We are aware of a number of locations where the road surface has sustained considerable damage," Cr McCann said.

He said while the locations have received temporary repairs, they need further work to reconstruct the section of road.

"In some areas, the temporary repairs have given way or are showing signs of fatigue," Cr McCann said.

Wagga City Council this week revealed plans to commence heavy patching of 10 pavement failures on Coolamon Road next week, weather permitting

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