track questions from Balladonia to Esperence

Motherhen - Only a short section, about 50 or 60 kms, on the most North-Eastern end of the Balladonia-Esperance Rd, is within the Dundas (Norseman) Shire boundary. The rest of the road falls under Esperance Shire control.

Dundas (Norseman) Shire will never do anything to upgrade the road, because it would then divert traffic, that ordinarily has to go through Norseman to get to Esperance, around Norseman.

Esperance Shire is the only one that will spend money on the road, in an attempt to garner more visitors to head straight to Esperance from the East.

Eastern W.A. Shire boundaries and major roads

Cheers, Ron.

Hi Ron, my reason for suggesting to contact Dundas was because there has been a barrier at the northern end of the road when we have seen it closed, so most likely placed by the Shire of Dundas or at least they would know about it.

Has there ever been maintenance on the middle section?

Yes, the barrier would most likely be put up by Dundas Shire, as it falls within their boundaries.

I don't think the middle section of the track has been maintained since the late 1960's or early 1970's, as is common with many of these "4WD tracks".
The track is not shown on any official maps, so it obviously receives no official support, nor any funding for maintenance.

One is usually dependent on companies to upgrade these tracks if they're working in the area, and they need improved access.

I personally graded and widened the Eastern section of the original Hyden-Norseman Rd (from the Gt Victoria Rock Rd, Eastwards), in 1986 - and that was because, as contractors, our family had been using it extensively - and I had some time and fuel to burn as I transported our Cat 14 grader from the Gt Southern to Higginsville.

I know I was the last person to grade that section of track, it has never been touched since.
Of course, that section was effectively abandoned after the Dundas Shire elected to install the South-Eastern diversion of the road, in the 1990's, that now runs from Lake Johnston direct to Norseman townsite.

The original Hyden-Norseman Rd intersected with the Coolgardie-Norseman Rd about 20kms South of Higginsville.

Cheers, Ron.

Funny story about that road Ron. For our first trip away with our Bushtracker in 2005, I purchased a map of the Nullarbor (from EO) because my basic map book was years old and is not detailed. Believing the purchased map more up to date that my old book, we sought the Hyden-Norseman Road from the map. We drove a little way in, and came to a large sign saying it was it was unmaintained. I told my husband we were on the wrong road. It said "Hyden Norseman Road" he replied and refused to stop. I convinced him it was the wrong road and it was not a good idea for us to continue without knowing more about what we might encounter. We were on our own and had a heavy caravan towed by a 3 litre td Patrol. He had to back out some way. He still says "No spirit of adventure".

A couple of years later I took a photo of the sign at the Victoria Rock Road end.