MOTORISTS travelling on Logan Reserve Road from Beutel Street roundabout to Schmidts Road will need to find an alternative route over the school holidays.
Logan Council road re-surfacing work will begin on the flood-prone road from the evening July 1 and is expected to be completed in one week, weather permitting.
Councillor Phil Pidgeon said he endorsed council’s decision to close the section of road for the duration of the project.
“The council had two choices – to open one lane each way and have the roadworks drag on for a number of weeks – or to close the road for one week only over the July school holidays and have it finished in a week,” he said.
“I strongly support the second option.
“There are a number of people who are very unhappy about losing access to this road and I am one of them, but I am desperately fighting for a better outcome for this community.”
The $1.25 million project will replace the existing 20mm bitumen and re-surface the road with 240mm bitumen to improve flood resistance.
Cr Pidgeon said this would be more than a short-term fix.
“The big problem with this road is the water recedes and sits under the road causing air pockets to lift the bitumen,” he said.
“The 240mm thick bitumen would resist the forces of air coming underneath and will result in an outcome where, if this road floods, we can re-open it in 48 hours instead of two to three weeks.”
Cr Pidgeon said there had been some calls to bridge the flood affected area, but this was not a viable option.
“We would be talking about a bridge that would be more than one kilometre long. The cost of that bridge would be almost double council’s annual budget for the city,” he said.
“We can’t afford to do that.”
Logan Council has issued notice of work leaflets to residents which describe signed traffic detours and indicate there may be increased noise and dust.
