ALBURY councillor John Stuchbery has queried the priority given to a $322,000 upgrade of Yambla Place ahead of road improvements in the Doctors Point area.
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The council ticked off the improvements to Yambla Place this week with the project to be carried out by Excell Gray Bruni.
Cr Stuchbery revealed he had made two visits to Yambla Place in the lead-up to this week's meeting and felt roads in other parts of the city including Doctors Point deserved higher priority.
“I just don't think Yambla Place looks that bad to me,” he said.
“There are plenty of roads in Albury that are worse than Yambla Place in my view.”
Cr Stuchbery said more people lived in the Doctors Point area where access to properties was cut off in last year's floods.
“Is it fair and reasonable Yambla gets $322,000 thrown at it and Doctors Point is a dot point on the four-year plan?” he said.
The council's engineering director Brad Ferris defended the decision to upgrade Yambla Place with works to include 1694 square metres of pavement, kerb and guttering improvements, drainage and landscaping.
He said the bowl area at the bottom end of Yambla Place was particularly difficult for garbage trucks and other service vehicles to negotiate.
“There are a number of failures that have occurred there over an extensive period of time,” he said.
“The pavement is in poor nick and it has had a number of heavy patches.
“The seal is at the end of its useful life and similarly the kerb.
“There is a large hump in the bowl area which is causing some challenges around access for residents and also heavy vehicles.
“Drainage is sub-standard through the whole street.”
Mr Ferris said works in Doctors Road were on council's radar.
“It was a one in 10-year event and the only time I am aware of in the last 10 years that Doctors Point has been unable to be accessed,” he said.
The upgrade will take 10 weeks to complete.