Friday, May 28, 2010 at 20:05
Hi Landy
Good reply, but like you say and know, Government bodies can work in strange ways. As for a bridge, I would say that would be well and truly out of the question, as the Cooper in that neck of the woods does not carry enough regular water and an updated ferry would be more cost effective. The new type ferry that would be great to put into place would be like the ones that ware used in
South Australia that cross the River Murray. They can take a larges number of vehicles in 1 go and are very quick.
I can see the number crunchers wanting to comment now. The fact that the ferry crossing is in the same place, above the high water mark shows that sure it is not a every year event, but it does happen and will happen again, no questions asked.
When you compare the number of vehicles that used it in 1990, the amount of stock that used the old punt and what it will be like this season, the figures should speak volumes in itself. Twenty years ago, there was no internet, no wide spread coverage of the event and only a fraction of people out there that ever went bush. DTEI figures from 1990 showed that there were about 24 vehicles using the
Birdsville Track every 24 hours. Shane Oldfield who has lived on the
Birdsville Track all his life, said that there are now about 24 vehicles going past his Clayton Station
gate every hour - or 576 vehicles every day.
Like I have said many times before on my posts, Government Bodies will send money on project that are either vote grabbing, or to suite themselves. If we can spend $20 Million Dollars on a pedestrian foot bridge over the River Torrens, why not spend some of that on an upgrade and superior ferry.
Have a great weekend.
Cheers
Stephen
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