The City of Greater Geelong will suspend its road management plan for three months while it focuses on repairing flood damaged roads, footpaths and shared paths.
There were nearly 500 outstanding requests to fix drainage assets and 300 requests for potholes created by the flooding, with an average of 10 new porthole requests coming in each day.
Inspectors are reviewing bridges and waterway channels before restarting road inspections, which is expected to result in a significant increase in work.
The Barwon River peaked at 3.86 metres on October 16, which resulted in severe flooding along the region’s waterways and in isolated areas of the urban stormwater network, and inundation of the City’s infrastructure.
Many footpaths require scraping and cleaning of mud and debris, however resources are being diverted to higher priority clean up works, the City said.
Acting CEO Kaarina Phyland said the Road Management Plan allows for temporary suspensions during natural disasters.
“Greater Geelong experienced 50-70mm of rain across the Barwon, Moorabool and Leigh river catchments between 12-15 October, causing widespread damage,” she said.
“Other Victorian councils, such as the City of Greater Bendigo, Mitchell Shire and Golden Plains Shire, have also enacted this special clause to suspend their RMPs in light of the recent flood damage.
“The team has been working incredibly hard to ensure community safety following these rain events.
“The City will continue to make every effort to comply with the RMP, but expects to be challenged by the set timeframes given the situation.”
