POTHOLES have redefined the Myall Way as a dangerous moguls run from the Pacific Highway into Tea Gardens.
In March, NRMA’s ‘10 Worst Roads in NSW’ list ranked the Myall Way at #9.
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Along with The Bucketts Way, Booral (#10), and The Lakes Way, Forster (#2), three of the ten worst roads in the state were located within the MidCoast LGA.
The Myall Way’s current state is angering locals of Hawks Nest, Tea Gardens, Pindimar and Bundabah, for whom this road is the lifeline to the outside world.
“I’m sick of getting wheel alignments, I’ve had three in the last four months,” John Batman, Manager at ANL Tea Gardens, whose trucks traverse the Myall Way regularly, told NOTA.
“In the dark hours of the morning, potholes are invisible monsters, and with the afternoon sun in your eyes, it’s even more dangerous as you swerve to avoid them.”
Potentially deadly accidents seem inevitable along the 90km/h road, as so many potholes force a choice between veering off shoulders, or into oncoming traffic.
“I’ve never seen so many abandoned and crashed cars on my way to work in my life,” stated Damon at Novatech Autobody in Tea Gardens.
MidCoast Council was contacted over a week ago regarding any plans to fix Myall Way’s surface.
Council cited relatively minor recent works on 300m between Yalinbah and Engel Streets, lightyears away from the 10km of crater-riddled, arterial roadway connecting Tea Gardens to the Highway.
“It’s a wonder there hasn’t been a major accident yet,” Mr Batman declared.
“The stretch at the bottom of the hill in Tea Gardens, before the industrial area, is also quite wicked.”
The most dangerous section, near the Pindimar turnoff, endures all traffic to and from the area, including heavy trucks and school buses.
All vehicles must hazard the narrow, two-lane donkey-track, reminiscent of the conditions defining the tragic Grafton and Clybucca bus crashes 30 years ago, which triggered the dual-carriageway upgrading of the entire Pacific Highway north of Newcastle.
By Thomas O’KEEFE
