HINDMARSH Shire Council has removed truck restrictions on a road near Lake Hindmarsh after farmers expressed concerns about financial losses.
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Council installed signs restricting truck access on Rainbow-Nhill Road in 2012, in response to community safety concerns about the road being a school bus route.
Hindmarsh Shire mayor Ron Ismay told the Mail-Times earlier this year the road desperately needed widening to make it safe. He said parts of the road were single-lane, and there were also blind corners.
Farmers told council they experienced financial losses if they were not able to use the road, because it meant they had to take longer routes.
Council’s infrastructure services director Shane Power presented a report to council in April, which recommended introducing a permit system on the road to allow access to trucks outside school bus hours.
Councillors instead voted to remove truck restrictions on Rainbow-Nhill Road, and encourage movement of heavy vehicles from local roads to state-controlled C Class road networks where possible.
Cr Ismay said about 25 people were in the gallery for the meeting.
“It was the most I’ve ever seen,” he said.
“I had to declare a conflict of interest as I'm part of the Rainbow P-12 College school council, and they wrote a letter opposing the proposal.
“With the fact the trucks are there, we will now spend money on upgrading Outlet Bridge – it's a blind corner and you can't see traffic coming from the other direction.
“There's another blind corner around Sandhill Corner that is dangerous, so we'll spend money on that also.
“I don't want a fatality on a school bus on my watch, and we’ll do our darnedest to make the upgrade happen.
“I hope those who have advocated to open this road up realise that – for this upgrade to happen – they have to be prepared for some of their local roads to miss out on work, because this becomes a priority.
“We will be campaigning for grant money to help.”