Trucks on Gooramadda Road not to blame for disintegration of road, says council boss

What began as a pothole on the road just outside of Rutherglen quickly escalated into the road completely disintegrating within days. But Indigo Council chief executive Trevor Ierino has rejected suggestions by some residents that heavy traffic on the road contributed to the collapse.

"Cars and trucks and so on use a lot of roads, and we expect it to be suitable for that purpose," he said.

"It's easy to look and say the trucks must have done that, but really we put trucks on roads that they are designed to go on."

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Mr Ierino said road problems were rife across the region.

"These sorts of things are happening around the place, mostly due to significant flooding we've had," he said.

"We have to wait until it dries out and see what needs to be done to correct it and repair the road. It appears that water has eroded around the culvert and washed that out.

"There has been some erosion going on below the surface; It's created a void."

Mr Ierino said the road would be closed until a full engineering assessment could be undertaken.

"We will have to wait for the report and then we will get stuck into it and do the works. A campaign to reduce the speed limit from 100km/h to 80km/h has also been on the radar of surrounding neighbours."

He said it should be common sense for drivers not to drive through flood waters.

"It may look shallow and safe to cross," he said. "But don't drive through the flood water - you cannot see what's under the water."

Meanwhile a Wodonga road also suffered significant damage, with road crews working to repair the hole on Pearce Street on Wednesday.

The road had been closed in both directions between Hartwig Road and the Melrose Drive roundabout

Wodonga Council announced at 3.10pm Wednesday that Pearce Street had reopened after repairs were completed.

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