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A major regional South Australian road and ferry service are reopening today after the Murray River flood event put the infrastructure out of action for more than a month.
Key points:
- Kingston road at Moorook has reopened to light vehicles after being inundated during the River Murray flood event
- The Lyrup ferry is also reopening as floodwaters recede
- Riverland locals say they are relieved as the closures impacted daily lives and business
The state's infrastructure and transport department (DIT) reopened Kingston Road at Moorook to light vehicles this morning, after strength testing confirmed it was safe to drive on under controlled conditions.
It warned motorists extended inundation caused the road's shoulder to be soft in some sections and urged people to take extra care when travelling, with speed restrictions in place.
Moorook General Store operators Satish and Priti Tati said the reopening meant commuters would no longer need to take a dirt road detour.
"It's a very happy moment for the community ... including for the locals, people travelling and school kids who catch the bus," Mr Tati said.
The department confirmed the Lyrup ferry would also reopen at midday today, joining four of the state's 12 River Murray ferries.
DIT Marine team representative Grant Sommers said water had receded to a safe level at the site.
"The landing infrastructure is free of water, we've been able to clean it and assess it for any damage," he said.
Mr Sommers said marine services were conducting daily inspections of the ferries to ensure equipment, including cables and anchor points, could be activated as soon as floodwaters receded to a safe and operable level.
Lyrup Club manager Neville Tschirpig said the ferry closure had had an impact on business, causing a small downturn.
"We did lose a number of clientele from the Berri Barmera area that normally come out and support us, but they still put in the effort at times, that was greatly appreciated," he said.
"There could well be some big line-ups at the ferry [today].
"You just don't realise how much traffic does travel between Berri and Loxton."
Bookpurnong Road remains closed
Another major Riverland linking route, Bookpurnong Road, could be months away from reopening, the department confirmed.
It said the latest inspection showed while most of the road surface was no longer inundated, it was significantly damaged.
"The reopening of Bookpurnong road remains a high priority, however given the duration of inundation the road pavement can be expected to be saturated and may require extensive repairs," it said in a statement.
Loxton-based dried fruit supply manager David Swain said the closure of the road during the flood event had caused a reduction in the availability of the local workforce.
"Some of our regulars living in Berri and Renmark decided 40 or 50 minutes each way [was too far] and decided to get [work] closer," he said.
Loxton Waikerie Council chief executive David Beaton said he would like to see Bookpurnong Road raised by a metre in the repair phase and would lobby the state and federal governments for funding.
"I think there's a good argument to be made that if we can increase the height of [the road], it might give us a lot more time before it would need to be closed," he said.
Mr Beaton said his council would also push for improvements to Kingston Road, the Stott Highway and Stanitzki Road.
"There's a lot of road infrastructure damage across the whole country so we need to be able to make our arguments to seek financial support and get things done as quickly as possible," he said.
"That might not be in the first year but if we can plan this over a couple of years to get this work done, that'll look after us into the future."