Elmore Field Days 2022: Concerns over road to top rural event

Hundreds are set to traverse a potholed pathway to the Elmore Field Days next week, despite recent roadworks.

Hundreds of motorists attending next week’s Elmore Field Days will have their vehicle suspension tested, an event veteran says.

A key route to the west of the event site, the Elmore-Raywood Road has recently been patched up by maintenance workers.

But Field Days life governor Ged McCormick said despite their best efforts, more substantial roadwork was needed to bring the thoroughfare up to scratch.

He said a 40km/h speed limit had recently been imposed on Elmore to Raywood link between Connells Road and Lockington Rd.

“Before that, it went down from the usual 100km/h to 80km/h and clearly that was still seen as a danger,” Mr McCormick said.

“The condition of the Elmore-Raywood Road has to be seen to be believed. It’s in a shocking way. Potholes everywhere. Some parts, particularly between Connells Road and Lockington Road, there’s just huge patches of bitumen that have broken away.

“It’s nothing against (the road workers) but filling a few potholes in here and there is like putting your finger in a dam wall. There needs to be a lot more money spent on bringing it up to scratch.”

The Elmore Field Days back in 2019. Picture: Andy Rogers

The Field Days are scheduled next week for October 4-6, back after several years of uncertainty following coronavirus restrictions on major events.

Mr McCormick said rain forecast for the coming days would exacerbate the shoddy road surface conditions along the thoroughfare.

“We’ve been lucky with the rain so far. Only had 4mm here in Elmore but 30 to 40kms to the west, they’ve been dumped with two to three inches recently,” he said.

“If you’re coming to the Field Days from the west, then you usually head along (Elmore-Raywood Road) but I reckon a lot will be avoiding it, taking a longer way around.”