Nowra: The Wool Rd closed ‘indefinitely’ after major sinkhole opens up

A major sinkhole closing a south coast road for an estimated 10 months and leaving residents with lengthy detours, could cost more than $1 million to fix, according to a regional council.

The sinkhole on The Wool Rd has grown dramatically since it first appeared late last week. Picture: Supplied.

Residents in a south coast hamlet have been left with lengthy detours after a mega sinkhole formed on major road connecting their town to a CBD, schools and more, with council noting it could cost $1.2m and take 10 months to fix.

The Wool Rd – which connects Nowra via the Princes Highway to coastal areas such as Old Erowal Bay – has been closed “indefinitely” following the appearance of a sinkhole, created after days of intense rain.

The area has since been fenced off by Shoalhaven Council, after the hole grew more than three times its original size.

“We need to drive along all these other roads just to get into Nowra now,” concerned resident Warren Dillon told The South Coast News.

“I read online that Transport NSW was working with our local bus companies to get kids to school on time, but even with this, there’s still going to be major delays because of these detours.

The Wool Rd will be closed "indefinitely". Picture: Live Traffic NSW

“I need to get to work, to the shops, this is going to be such a huge pain and knowing our council, they’re going to just let it sit there for a very long time.”

Resident Paul Diaz agreed with this sentiment, labelling the situation as “bloody bullshit”.

The sinkhole on The Wool Rd first appeared late last week following intense rain.

“Get contractors in now and get it open by end of next month,” he said.

“It won’t be hard to rip it all out and start again, engage local excavator companies and get them to help rip it out and start fresh this should be happening now, clean it all out then when the slow engineers know what to build then do it fast, stuff the budget, I’m sure they is money somewhere for emergencies.”

Shoalhaven Mayor Amanda Findley said council was working “closely” with Reconstruction NSW on how the situation could be fixed, however Councillor Paul Ell said it wasn’t good enough.

“I have spoken to numerous residents over the past few days about the sinkhole,” he said.

Shoalhaven councillor Paul Ell.

“I have been asked about the possibility of a shuttle bus to collect residents from the sinkhole so they can make it to appointments in Vincentia. I will raise this with council staff and ask for it to be looked in to.”

Meanwhile, Shoalhaven resident Marina Matic said these types of situations were avoidable with the right planning.

“Council really now needs to rethink the town planning and it roads,” she said.

“Many of our villages are not interconnected by more than one road – so when there are incidents like flooding, fires, car accidents, fallen trees etc – people can’t get in or out once the road in blocked. Really bad for emergency situations.”

Shoalhaven Council told The South Coast News they expect The Wool Rd to be closed for 10 months the sinkhole is fixed and estimate the total construction cost to be $1.2m.

“This is a live situation that is evolving,” Shoalhaven Council Director of City Services, Carey McIntyre said.

“Our staff understand that this is a priority road and have been doing everything possible to start remediation as soon as possible.”

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