NORTHERN Tablelands MP Adam Marshall took his ministerial colleague and Roads Minister Melinda Pavey on a short road trip during a visit to Moree on Friday to show her first hand the state of a dirt strip between Mungindi and Boomi.
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Mr Marshall has been pressing the Minister for a funding fix to get about 56km of Carrigan Rd sealed.
Mr Marshall said he’s not just looking for a financial handout for the works, but that he’s also interested in discussing a partnership that could see some private funding contributions to get the job done.
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Mr Marshall said a 56km stretch of Main Road 507 from Mungindi to Boggabilla, which locals call Carrigan Road, is unsealed – and that’s the section between Mungindi to Boomi.
“I am backing the local push to get that part of road sealed – and the road trip with Minister Pavey is part of that plan, as well as a meeting with locals and Moree Plains Shire Council leaders,” Mr Marshall said.
“I spoke about the cost benefit ratio of a road upgrade because there is a productivity element to this issue as well as safety concerns.
“The maintenance cost of work on a dirt road, particularly after rain, is just one of those cost-benefit issues.”
A business along Carrigan Road was forced to increase their travel distance by 40-50kms each way because of the condition of the road. The same goes for many businesses that use that transport link.
Mr Marshall said an application by Moree Plains Shire Council last year for State Government funding to seal Carrigan Road had been unsuccessful, but no one was giving up on the push to get the road sealed.
“Just one business alone along Carrigan Road, on an annual basis, will use 1,800 grain trucks, 525 cattle trucks, 180 chemical and fertiliser trucks, 460 feed supplement trucks, 400 cotton trucks, 52 fuel trucks and 365 freight carriers,” Mr Marshall said.
“Another business will oversee 500 road trains through their property and onto Carrigan Road, and another calculates 290 road trains per year.
“This is the traffic thoroughfare from just three properties along Carrigan Road, and it is astounding that in 2017, this little country road that generates so much of this country’s agricultural produce, remains unsealed.”
Mr Marshall said local businesses were so frustrated about the inefficiencies created by the road that they’d offered to contribute financially, or by way of donation of machinery, to assist in achieving the road seal.
“They can see the merit in improving freight efficiency and achieving savings for producers and locals, and so do I, and that’s what I want to convince Minister Pavey about with this visit.”
