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Welcome to Orange, watch out for the road crumbling into the countryside
By Peter Holmes
Sections of roadway from Orange Airport to Spring Hill, Spring Terrace, Millthorpe and Blayney are in a shocking state of disrepair, and are literally crumbling into the countryside.
Residents who have to travel Aerodrome Road have contacted The Orange News Examiner to express their concern about the dangerous thoroughfare.
"It's a disaster," said Millthorpe's Gerry Faulkner.
"When you come out of the airport and turn left, on the bend is a cavernous hole and more potholes."
Aerodrome Road leads onto Forest Road, which has been improved in recent times and is yet to have dividing lines painted.
However Aerodrome Road remains pock-marked and a risk to drivers who may find themselves caught in the crater while taking a bend.
Mr Faulkner said he was fed up with buck-passing between tiers of government and just wanted the job done.
"For a major regional airport the roads in and out are Dickensian," he said.
Another resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the road was "shocking".
Community anger over road quality and potholes in Orange and surrounds roads has been simmering for years.
In August 2021 council released a statement addressing the disquiet.
"As well as improving the quality of local roads, Orange City Council is working to improve the community’s understanding of how local roads are managed and how repairs happen," it stated.
"There’s a common community perception that pot holes shouldn’t ever happen, and that when they do it’s a sign of badly-built road.
"Both these views are wide of the mark, according to the crews who work on local roads every day."
In 2016 council made a series of videos addressing concerns about potholes.
They were titled How does the Council fix potholes?, Why doesn’t the Council build better roads? and Are potholes inevitable?
"This video reveals that pot holes are inevitable," said the council statement.
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