WITH Brown Moun-tain closed to traffic for at least a month, there have been questions raised over heavy vehicles’ use of alternative routes.
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Last week’s heavy rain caused a landslide on Brown Mountain, west of Bemboka, and a large section of the Snowy Mountains Hwy was extensively damaged.
Roads and Maritime Services (RMS - formerly the Roads and Traffic Authority) have closed the road to traffic in both directions “until further notice” as well as put restrictions in place on the alternate routes between the Monaro and the Far South Coast.
Bega Valley Shire councillor Keith Hughes this week called for a ban on log trucks using Mt Darragh Rd, at least until the Snowy Mountains Hwy on Brown Mountain is reopened.
However, Forests NSW said only a small number of unloaded log trucks are actually using that road and most harvesting operations in the area had even been suspended due to the weather.
Cr Hughes said that log trucks were responsible for enormous damage to roads and do not pay their way.
“Logging on the escarpment and the tablelands causes dozens of log trucks every day to deliver loads of logs to the Eden chip mill,” he said.
“A log truck does hundreds of times more damage to a road than a small passenger motor vehicle, depending on the load, but their registration fees are non-commensurate with the damage they do to roads.
“At this time when Canberra-bound traffic is being diverted along
Mt Darragh Rd, it is unacceptable that they should be putting the region’s major road link to the tablelands and beyond at extra risk,”
Cr Hughes said.
In response to an inquiry by the Bega District News, Forests NSW said, following the closure of Brown Mountain, Forests NSW had only diverted a small number of unloaded log trucks up the Mt Darragh Rd to access hardwood harvesting operations near Cooma and Bombala.
“All loaded log trucks from these operations use Imlay Road to reach Eden processors,” a Forests NSW spokesperson said.
“A minimal amount of unloaded softwood haulage traffic has been using Mt Darragh Rd to get to work.
“Once loaded, these trucks only use Imlay Rd – a sealed Forests NSW road on a state forest, which has been built and maintained by Forests NSW.
“These trucks do not use Brown Mountain.
“For the past week, there has been very little haulage of hardwood or softwood due to the weather conditions.
“All harvesting operations are most likely to be suspended due to weather issues in the forests.”
• For updates on RMS road conditions and closures, visit www.livetraffic.com.