There has been a fair bit of damage done to the Victoria Hiway from Timber Creek heading west, as well as the main bridge at Fitzroy Crossing being badly damaged and impassable.
Has anyone been through there or tried to get through there at all recently? I am planing the big lap to be heading off in May, likely to be crossing the border between NT and WA late July. That is still 6 months away, reports are reading that the Fitzroy River crossing may be out of action for many months.
What are the suggestions as I am in the planning stages and don't really want to get to Halls Creek and find a dead end. Supplies are being trucked via SA to the Kimberly as the roads from the west side are impassable.
There is probably no way the bridge will be replaced by then. The old concrete causeway should reopen after the wet season is open. That is if there is no major damage done to it. The saving grace there is that it goes under regularly with every flood, major or minor, during the wet and has done so every wet season.
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PeterD Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top Retired radio and electronics technician. NSW Central Coast.
In 6 months time there could be an established alternative route but there is no guarantee of that. The low level crossing at Fitzroy will likely see a lot more traffic than usual as Peter D has said, but it's unlikely crossing the river will be the only issue. There will be significant damage to roads, more than a normal wet season brings. I'd suggest that it is likely that if it is possible to drive across that route when you want to, that it's fairly likely there will still be rough sections where high clearance vehicles would be desirable, possibly necessary...... but all just guesswork at the moment.
Until this crisis is over your questions cannot be answered. We are still in early wet season, with no idea what the rest will bring. Roads won't begin to be fixed up beyond bare minimum (where possible) until the risk of further wet season damage is over, & that won't be until May or June.
The logistics of fixing roads across that area are very different to more populated areas of the country- it's not like road crews can work from home or that local depots can supply all the materials needed.
A 'Plan B' (& maybe 'C' too) would be a good idea. Flexibility will be the key.
Check out the latest news item on the GN website (top right of this page). News doesn't look so good.
That news report is a little over the top. Much of the food and other deliveries come from the east now. For instance, last time we were up there the bread deliveries for the whole of the top end, including into Qld came out of Darwin.
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PeterD Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top Retired radio and electronics technician. NSW Central Coast.
I had read there was a causeway / floodway across the Fitzroy that was possibly an alternative but the reports also said that that may be unlikely. Traversing ugly roads isn't too much of an issue as my tug is a reasonably capable 4wd and the van has high clearance with some off road capability as well.
Being the "wet" season runs November to May and ole mate McGowan reportedly said they wouldn't consider any major works until after the wet, it would be hardly likely any works would be carried out before mid year...and who knows another cyclone might dump even more rain.
The cost of transport of necessities for those communities is through the roof due to the distances involved when considering it all has to come via NT...I thought maybe that would accelerate some repairs but that doesn't seem likely.
I guess the best thing to do is wait until maybe end of April to make the decision which direction to go...
-- Edited by Hitting the road on Thursday 12th of January 2023 08:00:14 AM
