THERE would be thousands of families living along dirt roads throughout the state who are hoping their road won’t be missed in the state government’s Fixing Country Roads program.
But there wouldn’t be as many whose road had changed from regional status to a shire road such as the Bugilbone Road section of the Baradine-Collarenebri Road between Burren Junction and Pilliga which was downgraded a few decades ago.
“It is considered as one of the worst and most dangerous roads within the Walgett shire according to the Burren Junction community, says Marney O’Brien, “Nunkeri” on the Pilliga end and Philip Powell, “Lochmohr”, north of the Namoi River, Burren Junction.
The Fixing Country Roads program is allowing $50 million a year for each of the next 10 years in a $500m program from the lease of the state’s poles and wires.
The Bugilbone Road is the main road between two towns, two schools, two police stations and two popular artesian bore baths along the crucial link between Coonabarabran and Mungindi earmarked as an alternative traffic route to the Newell Highway.
“It is the only stretch of the Baradine-Collarenebri Road section that isn’t classified a regional road although it used to be,” Mr Powell said.
“When I came to live here in 1970 this was a beautiful road, high, hard and maintained and even had a dry weather track alongside.
“But it has been neglected very badly for many years.”
Mrs O’Brien said the 23 primary and preschool children miss a lot of their education as the road closes and the school bus stops running after some five to 10 millimetres of rain.
“The bus run is 65 kilometres one way of which 25km is along our road, but only 5kms is sealed,” she said.
“This means only seven per cent of the bus run has all weather access.”
Seventeen school students and six pre-schoolers rely on the bus.
“Seventeen of these children make up to a third of the students at Burren Junction Public School,” she said.
“As little as five to 10mm of rain overnight can see the bus run cancelled for the day, and 25mm cancels the bus for many days later.
“There is no halfway point where parents can meet the bus during these wet conditions.”
As a result families of 23 children have to drive them all the way to school and then pick them up.
But that’s when the road is not closed to all traffic.
“Over a seven week period this year the bus didn’t run at all for 10 days due to small amounts of rain,” Mrs O’Brien said.
Mr Powell said since the downgrading of the road there had been an increase in local grain and cotton production and therefore extra truck transport.
“This road is an important link for transport and freight as smaller grain receival sites are now closed making this a main feeder to the Burren Junction silo, a primary site in the area,” he said.
Tourism has become a vital road link as well.
The Artesian Baths at Burren Junction and Pilliga have grown in visitor interest.
“In the past three months 910 nights were booked at the Pilliga Bore Baths and it is predicted there would be 40 to 60 vans per night in the peak season,” Mrs O’Brien said.
“The high volume of caravans and motor homes travelling along this road has increased the danger of driving along this less than second grade road.”
