Road repairs: Bondi and Rose Bay pothole “nightmare” following recent rain sees drivers tyres ripped up

Residents who reported slashed and damaged tyres on eastern suburbs roads say a mix of state and council responsibility leads to delays.

L to R: Diane Davie, Bella Starr, John Starr (with Tess the dog) , Greens State MLC member David Shoebridge, Nicola Grieve, and Belinda Johnstone stand between the affected trees. Woollahra Council has approved the removal of two very old fig trees on New South head road Rose Bay, as they are starting to compromise the surface of the tennis courts. Picture: John Appleyard

Potholes are the bane of every drivers’ existence. But for several drivers in Bondi whose tyres have ripped - and even exploded - due to potholes following recent rains, the issue has revealed problems around the management of eastern suburbs roads.

Violet Papava, a Rose Bay local, said she was forced to pull to the side of the road after her tyre “exploded” in a pothole on Old South Head Rd near Flood Street late last week.

Ms Papava told the Wentworth Courier she had driven into the pothole several times before.

“But this time, I was extremely unlucky, because as soon as I drove into it, there was a…massive noise, and my tyre exploded,” she said.

Ms Papava says her tyres were damaged by uneven asphalt on Old South Head Road. Image: Violet Papava.

Ms Papava said she was forced to stop on the side of the road as she feared causing even more damage to her car.

“That pothole had sliced my tyre on an angle. There’s a massive, massive hole.”

Ms Papava said the cost of replacing the tyres and rims tallied up to a total of approximately $5,500.

A close up of Ms Papava’s slashed tyre. Image: Violet Papava.

Jessica Daniel, who lives in Vaucluse, told the Wentworth Courier her tyre ripped on what she believes was a pothole near the Intersection of Old South Head Road and Blair Street in Bondi.

Ms Daniel was driving down the hill on Tuesday night when “my tyre, it just completely blew.”

“Strangely enough, I pulled in really slowly into the service station and about five minutes later someone did the exact same thing.”

Ms Daniel said she was forced to change the tyre there and then in order to continue driving.

Ms Daniel pointing to her slashed tyre caused by a pothole.

Ms Papava and Ms Daniel are just two of many residents who have reported damage and even injury due to damaged roads in the past week.

A local Facebook group warning residents about damaged roads. Image: Facebook.

Karen Stern, a Kensington local who drives to Dover Heights and Rose Bay several times a week to visit family, told the Wentworth Courier she has had to have tyres replaced in the past due to roads in disrepair.

Ms Stern said she has used the council-wide ‘Snap Send Solve’ app several times and seen quick responses from the relevant council.

However Ms Stern said she’s found delays in getting urgent road repairs come from the fact the key main roads are managed by the state rather than local council.

“Some of them are (state) government roads, and some of them are council roads,” Ms Stern said.

But “we don‘t know which roads are owned by whom,” she added.

Woollahra Council maintains all roads except for New South Head Road, Oxford Street, Syd Einfeld Drive and Old South Head Road, south of its intersection with New South Head Road, which are classified as state roads.

A spokesperson for Waverley Council told the Wentworth Courier that Old South Head Road, Bondi Road, Council Street and Carrington Road are State Roads and are the responsibility of Transport for NSW (TfNSW).

“All other roads in the Waverley local government area are the responsibility of Council and inquiries should be directed to Council,” the spokesperson said.

Old South Head Road, near Flood Street. Image: Bianca Healey.

Waverley Council said TfNSW has a contractor who is responsible for the ongoing maintenance and repair of these roads, including fixing potholes, and that requests about these roads should be directed to TfNSW.

Council officers triage and assess priority of repairs based on public safety, including repairs following significant weather such as heavy rains.

“Meanwhile, motorists are getting our cars damaged, because the two different departments are arguing over who‘s going to bear the cost of the repair of the road,” Ms Stern said.

Damaged road on Old South Head Road. Image: Violet Papava.

Ms Papava said she believed the division of state and council responsibility caused delays in the repair of roads.

“There are massive potholes everywhere, that are just not being fixed by council nor RMS,” Ms Papava said.

Ms Stern said she felt it was unreasonable for residents to expect roads to be repaired within hours.

“I do have an element of sympathy for them because you have all this rain like we‘ve had in the last few days. And it starts to wash away the road,” Ms Stern said.

“Council can‘t have the trucks and the people all over the area…checking every single road when it stopped raining to find it [potholes].

But Ms Papava maintains that particularly when roads become dangerous there should be greater coordination between authorities responsible.

“This pothole has been there for a long time. Council should be expected to go and fix every pothole.”

“I am now forced to take a longer route to work, just to avoid that pothole.”