Poor conditions of roads

[sgt_doofey]

Well, I am finally going to get off my butt and do something about the poor quality of roads that I have to drive along each weekday to get to and from work. Below is a copy of an e-mail that I sent to Patrick Conlon, the South Australian Minister of Transport.

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Attn: Patrick Conlon.

I am writing to you in regards to the condition of the roads that I have to drive every day on my way to and from work.
The roads in question are Gomersal Road between She-Oak Log and Tanunda, Sturt Highway between She-Oak Log and Gawler, and Main North Road at Gawler.
I live out in Tanunda in the Barossa Valley and commute in to the city every weekday for work. Most days I simply drive in to Gawler and catch the train in to the city as it is much easier and relaxing than having to drive in.

The conditions of these roads are quite appalling and I am surprised that in the 12 months that I have been using them that there haven't been more accidents along them.

The surface of Gomersal Road constantly breaks up and there are sometime up to 5-8 pot holes along this road, caused no doubt by the number of cars and trucks that use this road to and from the Barossa Valley. It also has insufficient illumination along the sides and middle of the road. This becomes quite apparent in the winter when driving home at night time. When an oncoming car is approaching, then it is very difficult to see where the road goes, or more importantly, any changes in the condition of the road (e.g.
potholes). This road is at it worst though during winter and when it is raining. It is impossible to see where the road is when passing oncoming cars and there have been numerous times when I have had to slow down from the signposted speed of 90km/h to speeds of 50km/h or less, simply due to the fact that I can not see safely in front of the car and where the road is. This matter could easily be solved by some better illumination being provided for this road (e.g. new reflectors on the sides and middle of the road.)

The Sturt Highway / Main North Road out near Gawler is another road which surface is quite appalling. It is amazing that there isn't more accidents along this road considering it's condition and the signposted speed of 110km/h. In my opinion, the worst section is between the Virginia/Angle Vale turn off and the Gawler bypass (heading South). I constantly drive with the two left wheels in the emergency stopping lane to try and avoid the majority of ruts and undulations, but even that is not enough. It is by far the worst sealed road I have driven along in my 13 years of driving.

It is good to see the work being done on Main North Road around the Smithfield / Munno Para / Elizabeth region to help improve the quality of roads there, but in my opinion, those road upgrades really should be done after the sections past Gawler have been attended to first as this is where I believe that the road is in the worst condition.
Another prime example of money being spent where it shouldn't have been is the roads around my mother's house were recently resurfaced in Wynn Vale. Those roads are all residential streets, the majority of which are either cul-de-sac's or no through roads which very little traffic travels along. Granted the 545 bus route does travel on a couple of them and that probably warrants attention due to the number of patrons that catch the bus, but why was money spent resurfacing these streets when there are roads out there that desperately need the attention?

I thank you for the time taken to read this e-mail and I look forward to hearing your views on my complaints.
Thank you in advance,

Sam Cox.
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I encourage you to contact your local minister to try and help fix up some of the poor roads that we have to endure, especially here in South Australia.
For SA, it's Patrick Conlon: minister.conlon@saugov.sa.gov.au

I will also be taking this matter up with my local council very shortly as well. These roads are very dangerous to drive along due to the poor conditions they are in and something really needs to be done about it.