Linear Park through Torrensville and Underdale waiting on SA Water rescue
A SECTION of the Linear Park trail which has been closed for almost 12 months must be urgently repaired to allow walkers and cyclists use of the path, a councillor says.
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A SECTION of the Linear Park trail which has been closed for almost 12 months must be urgently repaired to allow walkers and cyclists use of the path, a West Torrens councillor says.
Lockleys Ward councillor Kym McKay is calling on SA Water to make fixing part of the track, between Hardys Rd, Underdale, and Jervois St, Torrensville, an urgent priority.
The section of the walking and cycling track has been off limits since October, when severe storms caused flooding and eroded the banks of the River Torrens along the path and uprooted trees.
SA Water is responsible for stabilising and repairing the banks.
Cr McKay said locals had waited too long for a fix to the damaged part of the river pathway.
“This is an absolute disgrace and SA Water is treating us as a joke,” Cr McKay said.
“Whether it is about burst water mains or whatever else, SA Water is just not doing things.
“The path along the track is used by a lot of people walking dogs because it isn’t so frequented by bicycles flying along there at fast speeds because it’s a narrower track.
“It’s much more pedestrian friendly than the other side which is a lot wider and a lot of bikes go flying along there.”
The council’s urban services general manager, Dean Ottanelli, wrote to SA Water in January this year asking when the track would reopen.
“Due to the length of time that these pathways have remained closed, (the) council has started to receive reasonable backlash from the community in relation to this loss of facilities,” Mr Ottanelli said in the letter.
In his response, SA Water’s asset and operations general manager Mark Gobbie said it would take “considerable effort by all parties involved” to repair the banks of the river.
“We are committed to achieving this outcome in the most cost effective manner and to working closely with all impacted councils toward that objective,” Mr Gobbie wrote.
He said SA Water was developing concept plans to fix the erosion.
Underdale resident Dianne Tanner said many of her friends had complained about the closure of the trail.
“It’s massively inconvenient and it’s pretty ridiculous,” Ms Tanner, who lives close to the Hardys Rd entrance, said.
“It’s not like SA Water don’t get enough money out of us.”
An SA Water spokeswoman said the company was contributing to the repair of this part of Linear Park and other sites affected by extreme weather events last year.
“Engineering assessments to inform bank stabilisation measures have been completed for this section and works will be scheduled soon,” she said.