Drivers dodge pothole road

By Danielle Galvin
MOTORISTS are driving across the gravel footpath to avoid craters in the road in Moody Street, Kooweerup.
Other residents bypass the street, to Denhams Road, to avoid the unsafe and unsealed section of road.
Geoff Miller from Kooweerup told his wife on Monday to go the long way around the town to avoid the dangerous section of road.
“I just drove down there to drop my son off, and the potholes are very deep,” he said.
Mr Miller believes the road is more dangerous in the wetter months.
“It’s certainly worse than it has been, it just corrugates in the wetter months and we have potholes again,” he said.
“It’s just a silly situation, some bits are sealed and the council wants ratepayers to pay for it.”
Cardinia Shire Council’s operations team leader Mark Howard said works were programmed on the road last week.
He said the road would be graded on Tuesday.
“Cardinia Shire Council is aware of the condition of the unsealed section of Moody Street, Kooweerup,” he said.
“Works were programmed on this road last week, however the inclement weather did not allow grading to occur.”
Last week, Mr Miller spotted residents taking photos of the road to notify the council about the situation.
“I just decided I was sick of it,” he said.
“There’s the new supermarkets and new estates but they are not giving us the roads that we need.
“You can guarantee if the road led to a school in Pakenham it would be sealed and spot on.”
Mr Miller said that motorists who use the road were entitled to a “bit of safety.”
“Tonight (Monday) I saw a bus going into the bus park and it could hardly move it was going over that many holes.
“This is a risk to our cars,” he said.
Motorists who use the road often slow down to a crawling pace to avoid an accident or damage to their car.
“If somebody didn’t know it was there the road is very dangerous,” he said.
“Even if they were going the speed limit they could certainly run off.”
Debbie Douglas works in Denhams Road Kooweerup.
She said that she had noticed marks to show cars were driving up onto the gravel footpath to avoid the road.
“Staff that I work with noticed that there was a car coming the other way and they went up onto the pathway to avoid the road,” she said.
Ms Douglas said she believed it hadn’t been graded for some time.
“I drive an old four wheel drive and I slow right down to go over it,” she said.
“I actually rang the council today – it’s the worst it’s been in a while.”
Ms Douglas said she was told that if the situation didn’t improve, she should ring back the council next week.
“The road just shouldn’t be like that,” she said.