Water main break causes extensive traffic delays

A large water main break on Brisbane Water Dr, between the Spike Milligan Bridge and the Boulevarde intersection at Woy Woy, resulted in extensive traffic delays on Monday, January 22.

The breakage occurred just before 10pm on Sunday, January 21, and traffic was directed to use a single lane, while crews undertook repairs.

Water was flowing into the Woy Woy channel from a pipe on the northern side of Brisbane Water Dr and a large hole formed on the southern side of the road between the road surface and the rail line.

Emergency repairs continued through the night and during Monday, resulting in major traffic delays with cars travelling from Gosford towards the Peninsula banked back to Tascott train station at some points during the day.

Cars travelling towards Brisbane Water Dr from Woy Woy and other parts of the Peninsula were also at a standstill as far back as the intersection of Station St and Ocean Beach Rd.

The Central Coast Council chose to communicate with affected residents via social media using #CCCWater and did not issue any official media statement about the incident.

At around 11am on Monday, Council used Twitter to tell residents repairs were continuing.

"To allow us to undertake the complicated repair as quickly as possible, we are asking everyone in the Peninsula to conserve water this morning," the Council's social media feed said.

"Please delay any non-essential water use including clothes and dish washing, watering of gardens and water play," it said.

Due to the tidal influence of Brisbane Water on the location of the water main break, repair work to the water main and the road surface continued throughout Monday night.

Brisbane Water Dr reopened at around 9:30am on Tuesday.

Member for Gosford, Ms Liesl Tesch said constituents had informed her that the trip from Gosford to Woy Woy along Brisbane water drive had taken over an hour due to the lane closure.

Ms Tesch said she had visited the site to attempt to get some more information directly from the workers.

"We have received no information from Central Coast Council;.

"They have tweeted but not made any official statement," she said.

"It reminded me of the scene in the movie The Castle - 'like the time I dug a hole'," she said.

"The situation was telling, not just about our local road system but our infrastructure has not kept pace with the population.

"We need our infrastructure to be upgraded in parallel with development and it is not just up to the State Government.

"If Council is approving development on the Peninsula, it needs to ensure, as part of putting together a new comprehensive Local Environment Plan, it addresses the payment of Section 94 contributions by developers to make sure they are paying their fair share to provide infrastructure to the population including the basics like water and sewer."

SOURCES:

Website, 19-23 Jan 2018

Central Coast Incident Alerts facebook page

Interview, 23 Jan 2018

Liesl Tesch, Member for Gosford

Reporter: Jackie Pearson