By Renee Wood
Flooding in the region has blocked roads and caused two main thoroughfares to be closed.
Melba Highway has been closed since late last week between from Healesville-Yarra Glen Road , Yarra Glen to Macintyre Lane, Yering causing many to detour around through Healesville to access Yarra Glen and beyond.
Warburton Highway has suffered damages due to land slippage between Warburton and Millgrove with the area closed to all traffic.
These are just the latest in up to 1000 roads which have been affected by the extreme weather the state’s been seeing since 13 October.
A Department of Transport spokesperson said, “Closures are currently in place on the Warburton and Melba highways in the wake of flooding and extreme rainfall which hit the area late last week.”
There’s hope at least one lane will be open for Warburton Highway but the opening for Melba Highway is unclear.
“We’ve currently got crews on the ground assessing the condition of both roads – we expect at least one lane of the Warburton Highway to re-open on Wednesday afternoon and our experts are currently formulating a plan for the re-opening of the Melba Highway,” the spokesperson said.
“While we understand that ongoing closures can be frustrating for drivers, we will not compromise on safety and will only re-open these roads when it is safe to do so.”
Drivers are urged to check any closures on the VicTraffic website or app if you’re traveling along detours avoid using GPS and follow the detour signage.
While drivers might be familiar with the area and these roads might look safe to the eye, we need to work with emergency services to ensure that they’re safe to re-open to the public.
If drivers come across floodwaters, there’s also the reminder to stop and avoid the road as it’s what’s underneath the water that’s an issue as the road may have washed away or dangerous debris may be present.
A number of bridges and other structures in flood-affected areas are also awaiting assessment by structural engineers to assess their stability.
