Rural roads crisis: Indigo Creek Road tipped to remain shut long-term

Costs associated with the closure of a road in the North East of Victoria are already starting to mount for business owners.

The anticipated long-term closure of a main road in the Indigo Valley is frustrating nearby business owners and other users.

Wodonga livestock carrier Dale Grealy is already passing on additional costs of extra travel to farmers needing cattle transported to the North Barnawartha saleyards complex.

And The Watchbox winery owners Jemma Toohey and Rick Taylor have seen weekend customers plummet since the Indigo Creek Road was closed this month following recent heavy rain.

Mr Grealy said he was charging farmers an extra $40 to $50 per load due to being forced to travel into Wodonga and out to the saleyards.

“Most days we would slip down the Indigo Valley and straight into the saleyards,” he said.

“We’ve now got to go all the way into Wodonga and all the extra time and extra fuel adds up.”

North East livestock carrier Dale Grealy is dealing with extra costs due to the closure of the Indigo Creek Road. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Works to remove a culvert and build a bridge won’t be completed before the Wodonga weaner sales in early January.

The closure is equally devastating for Ms Toohey and Mr Taylor, who reopened the winery in 2019 only to encounter bushfires and Covid.

She said 60 to 70 per cent of their customers from Wodonga, Baranduda, Beechworth and Yackandandah used the Indigo Creek Road.

Gemma Toohey and Rick Taylor from The Watchbox winery on the Indigo Creek Road which has been closed due to recent flooding. Picture: Zoe Phillips

An average 40 customers a weekend had dropped to six since the closure.

“It’s had a massive impact on us,” Ms Toohey said.

“It’s an extra 30km (via the Hume Freeway) on your trip which is a double whammy with the price of fuel.

“We’ve only been here four years so we’ve had a great old time with the pandemic, smoke taint from bushfires and now flooding.

“You’ve also got farmers either side who don’t necessarily have stock, but they have crops or orchards.”

The road closure is a “high priority” for Indigo Shire with a temporary bridge solution under investigation.