By Callum Ludwig
Upper Yarra residents have been taking to social media to complain about the state of the Warburton Highway, with potholes causing costly damage.
Two particular potholes in Woori Yallock have been key culprits, with one outside the Tyrepower store and another on the corner of Middleton Drive seeing many motorists head into Tyrepower itself.
Owner of Tyrepower in Woori Yallock Marc Bull said the poor drainage is causing the pothole outside his shop.
“It’s too level outside and water doesn’t run away, it just sits there and sinks under the road base and turns it to slop. Then obviously the potholes just get created because the road basins are pretty much washed away,” he said.
“It’s good again until it rains, and then it’s opened up again, we’re lucky to last a day. In this area, you’ll find that most of the potholes that do arise are all in areas that have poor drainage or where the water has trouble getting away.”
There is a lack of lighting along this particular stretch of the highway, so drivers at night can find it hard to see and avoid potholes safely.
Mr Bull said the really bad weather makes it hard to combat the issue.
“They bring in semi-hot mix or cold mix and are filling the holes up temporarily, but sometimes they don’t even take the water out of the holes, which I suppose can pretty hard to do when the weather is really bad. For 20 years we’ve had really dry winters and now we are having a proper one” he said.
“Maybe some signage would be good to say they are out there, might at least give people a little bit of an idea. There’s really not enough room to avoid them, if people swerve around they’re then facing oncoming traffic.”
The Department of Transport’s maintenance contractor, Sprayline Road Services inspected the location around Woori Yallock on Friday 15 July with the understanding to undertake urgent repairs if required.
A Department of Transport Spokesperson said they’d like to thank the community for bringing these potholes to their attention.
“We encourage people to call our 24-hour Traffic Management Centre hotline on 13 11 70 to report any hazards they see on the road network,” they said
“Our crews will assess the Warburton Highway in Woori Yallock and undertake make-safe repairs if required. We’ll continue to monitor the road network around the Yarra Valley as part of our ongoing inspection program.”
The need for further repairs will be assessed against other maintenance priorities in the region.
Mr Bull said another issue is that everyone wants to issue VicRoads for their damage, but can’t always do so.
“They may only pay any bill over about $1400, and the average person comes in with maybe $300 damage to a tire but some of them are getting split rims and split wheels, although I’ve got one customer with damaged one rim at a cost of about $1600,” he said.
“It’s a bit of a nightmare, searching around for second-hand rims is tricky because you can’t get just one. I appreciate the business, but it’s not the way I want to be getting it.”
VicRoads’ threshold amount for their Notice of Incidents and Claims is valued at $1,460 for the 2022/2023 financial year. It covers damage over that amount for incidents that occur on arterial roads like the Warburton Highway or freeways.
