Residents furious with Wagga City Council over Tumbarumba Road

On May 30, two trucks collided on the road near the Murraguldrie Bridge, which falls within the Wagga local government area. The trucks burst into flames and a 40-year-old man died.

Tumbarumba man Chris Rosvall said he wrote a letter to Wagga council in March, urging it to take action to fix the road, among others, before an accident occurred.

Mr Rosvall said the letter did not garner a response.

"I'm angry, that should never have happened. It's disgusting," he said. "The deceased was well known in the community of Tumbarumba and it's destroyed lives, this road has destroyed lives."

Mr Rosvall said better road maintenance was desperately needed across the Wagga LGA.

"Once you get from the [Greater] Hume Shire to the Hume Highway the road is absolute rubbish," he said.

"Wagga City Council does not give a damn about anyone living outside the local government area and that's clear by the state of the roads.

"I'd like to see the same level of maintenance on this part of the road where we aren't having to dodge potholes.

"When you hit the Wagga LGA our roads go to nothing. The road needs to be maintained to a higher level of standard than what is currently being done."

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Rosewood resident Grace Mceachern travels to Wagga via Tumbarumba Road on a weekly basis, often to access medical services.

Mrs Mceachern said she had been travelling along the road on the day of the fatal truck crash, only about 10 minutes ahead of the crash victim.

"It really shook me to realise I could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time," she said.

With no way to avoid the road, Mrs Mceachern is selective about the times she drives it, often extending day trips and staying in Wagga overnight.

"I won't travel along Tumbarumba Road in the evening, at night or early in the morning," she said.

As well as the narrowing of the road, Mrs Mceachern said the potholes and erosion made an already dangerous road scary to drive on.

"I had a stroke in November and I was taken to Wagga Base Hospital via ambulance and the paramedic in the back had to ask the driver to slow right down because we were being thrown around," she said.

Wagga City Council was contacted for comment but directed The Daily Advertiser to a statement provided earlier this month.

At the time, director of infrastructure services Warren Faulkner said the council had received a number of concerns from residents about Tumbarumba Road, including the stretch between the Hume Highway and the boundary with Greater Hume Shire.

"We have carried out a series of improvement works, however, funding availability limits the extent and timing of future works on Tumbarumba Road, as is the case with all upgrade and rehabilitation works on roads within our network," Mr Faulkner said.

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