By Tanya Faulkner
The lifespan of the ‘Mad Mile Sinkhole’ will be short lived due to repairs being undertaken in Belgrave.
Locals have experienced several issues with the locally famous pothole on Burwood Highway, with numerous complaints finally resulting in action.
As of this month, Vic Roads have blocked off the area and have begun maintenance repairs on the hole.
It’s been a long time coming, according to locals on social media, with comments being posted by the hundreds about the pothole.
Knox local Martha Breninger said that particular hole has been deadly to the community.
“My partner had an incident when he was taking our son to basketball, he hit the pothole and the tire went up into the guard.
“He had to roll down the road, on a messed up tire, underneath the bridge and call a tow truck, which cost almost $1,000 with the repairs,” she said.
Several locals have come forward with complaints to council, Vic Roads, and even local MPs about the issues on the road, including a recent major accident on Burwood Highway.
“That pothole creates an airborne effect when you hit it.
“There’s just a sudden dip in the road, like the actual road is dipped in, and you can’t really see it until you hit it,” she said.
It’s not the first incident Ms Breninger has had with potholes, after recently repairing their vehicle from a similar incident in Cockatoo.
“There’s more of a bigger issue around it, people are complaining and there’s a lack of action,” she said.
One comment on Facebook complained that we get fines for having un-roadworthy cars, yet the roads are not car worthy.
In fact, the issue has grown so dramatically across Victoria that it made state-news headlines this month, with 7 News stating in a recent bulletin that the number of potholes on Victorian roads has increased by 272 per cent, to just shy of 9,000 reported holes statewide.
A Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) spokesperson said recent weather has been a contributing factor to the deterioration of local roads.
“Record levels of rainfall have caused unprecedented damage to our roads and we’re still seeing new potholes open up months after the peak of the floods due to the amount of water left sitting under the surface,” they said.
Much to locals’ delight, the portion of Burwood Highway where the potholes sits has now been sectioned off and appears to be scheduled for repairs in the coming weeks.
The DTP spokesperson said fixing roads both in the Knox municipality, and across the state, is a priority in the warmer months.
“As we approach the warmer, drier months of the year, our priority is to repair that damage, targeting our most flood-damaged roads along with key freight and travel routes,” they said.
Until repairs are complete, the road will continue to be blocked off.
