Hi everyone,
Well as most of you will probably know due to almost double and in
places over double the average rainfall, all the roads in the North
Kimberley copped some real damage this wet season. The
Mitchell Plateau rainfall average is 1.5 m and the plateau went over 3 m.
In
places the
Kalumburu road had vanished to the depth of a mans head.
The
Gibb River Road is now open, as is the
Kalumburu Road as far as the
Drysdale River only. The Gibb
River crossing ( on the
Kalumburu road) suffered damage, part of it washed away and care should be taken when crossing. The damage was filled already but the river is still running
well and slowly moving the fill. Hard to fix while a good flow is happening.
We are in full operation but the road North of Drysdale is still closed.
There are still some wet sections of the
Kalumburu Road road between Drysdale and the
Mitchell plateau turn off which wouldn't yet take much traffic. There are also
places where the road is impassable ( big long wash outs) and vehicles would have to take to the bush. The
grader is now working on the road North of Drysdale and heading for the
Mitchell plateau turn off. Soon there will be two graders working on the
Mitchell Plateau track ( called Port Warrender road in the reports).
Everyone is estimating that the plateau track should take 2 or more weeks of work to get to a point the shire will open it. The approaches to the King Edward crossing are just about totally gone on both sides, although the crossing held up ok. To fix all the damage will take longer than just an opening grade, as much of it is beyond what a
grader can fix and will require earth works but the shire will open it as soon as they inspect it and find it safe for traffic.
So the present situation is that the road to the
Mitchell Falls will probably be open late June or early July.
We all want it open as much as all visitors do !
The road from the
Mitchell plateau turn off heading North through to
Kalumburu is a different story, the black soil areas North of Theda Station are VERY wet. When inspected recently by air there were still 2 km long stretches of the road covered by water.
So for that area it isn't only a matter of putting machines on to fix the damage, it is a matter of waiting for it to dry up enough to even get a machine on it.
As no one has yet been able to get on ground up there to inspect it for damage, no one is sure what will need to be done once it's dry enough to do anything.
The first reports about the
Kalumburu Road not being open all dry season were NOT
well done and made no reference at all to the difference in time frame between the road opening to the
Mitchell Plateau and and the road opening to
Kalumburu. In fact it is totally different time frame due to the soil type up towards
Kalumburu.
Hope this all makes sense and we look forward to seeing lots of visitors again this year.
cheers, Anne