No reopening date set for Bells Line Of Road as extent of flood damage discovered

A crucial transport route between Sydney and NSW’s central west will be closed for months after sustaining severe damage in last week’s floods.

A crucial transport route between Sydney and the state’s central west will be closed for months after sustaining severe damage in last week’s floods, the NSW transport minister has revealed.

Andrew Constance warned users of the Bells Line Of Road to prepare for “many, many weeks of disruption”, with the damage so severe the government cannot yet speculate on a date for the reopening of the key Blue Mountains crossing.

In confronting news for freight companies and communities living along the 90km route, Mr Constance told The Daily Telegraph: “We need to brace ourselves for what is unfortunately going to be months of work, not weeks”.

The Bells Line is now expected to be closed for months after sustaining heavy damage during the NSW floods. Picture: MP Paul Toole

The Transport Minister said the “sheer volume of landslips” caused by torrential rains over the last fortnight meant large sections of the road were unsafe, with the fragile surface presenting a “tricky and difficult” challenge to state government engineers trying to access damage along it.

Major concerns remain regarding the stability of slopes and the risk of landslides on the stretch of road between The Hive and Mount Wilson Road.

Maintenance teams and specialist geotechnical teams have been on site all week assessing the stability of the route, while a ground penetrating radar has been used to assess ground conditions beneath the road.

“It’s very rare to see a major road disrupted over a period as long as this … We’d love to be able to give it a date (for reopening), but every indication from what I’m told is that it’s going to be a very lengthy process,” Mr Constance said.

“The notion of the Bells Line Of Road being an alternative to the Great Western Highway is over at the moment … unfortunately there’ll be many, many weeks of disruption.”

On average 2497 vehicles use the road each day when it is open.

Mr Constance asked residents, particularly over the Easter Weekend, to plan their trips and expect delays as thousands of extra vehicles are funnelled across the Great Western Highway.

The flood-damaged Freemans Reach Rd in the Hawkesbury. Minister Andrew Constance says it could be months before important roads such as the Bells Line Of Road reopen after flood damage. Picture: Supplied

It comes as the true extent of the damage wrought by floodwaters is still being realised as clean-up efforts continue, with Mr Constance this week visiting the devastated Hawkesbury region.

“We’ve just seen so much damage, the clean-up and logistics is going to be next level,” he said.

Recovery operations continue from the flood-struck communities along the Nepean and Hawkesbury Rivers, all the way to the normally pristine sands of Bondi Beach, with Waverley Council enlisting the help of an excavator to clear logs and other large debris flushed into the ocean from the floods.

It comes as Hawkesbury Mayor Patrick Conolly urged the state government to use local companies as part of the flood recovery, saying “we’d hate to see people from outside the area brought in to do work that people within the area can do”.

Waverley Council have enlisted an excavator to help remove flood debris from Bondi Beach early Thursday. Picture: John Grainger

“We have a lot of tradies here – all the skills are here,” the Liberal Mayor said.

“We’d hate to see people from outside the area brought in to do work that people within the area can do.”

A spokesman for Deputy Premier John Barilaro, who is co-ordinating the NSW government response to the recovery, said “local co-ordination is key” with councils, local contractors and emergency services expected to work together on the clean-up.