As a number of unsealed roads in the State’s far north are re-opened to four-wheel drive vehicles, travellers are being urged to plan their journey and drive to the conditions with more rain on the way.

Following inspections, maintenance teams have declared several key outback roads safe to re-open to four-wheel drive traffic with warnings. These include Kempe Road (Coober Pedy to Oodnadatta), William Creek Road (Coober Pedy to William Creek), and sections of the Oodnadatta Track.

Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Tom Koutsantonis urged drivers to use caution on these roads, particularly at soft sections, where water is ponded over the road or where wheel rutting has occurred.

Further moderate rain is expected today and over the weekend. This is likely to impact on road conditions meaning that some roads may take longer to re-open or may close at short notice to ensure traveller safety.

Road users should check the local weather conditions, and the latest road closures and warnings, prior to travel.

For the latest information about road conditions, including the latest closures, visit www.dit.sa.gov.au/outbackroads or call 1300 361 033 for the latest Road Condition Report.

Regular updates are also being provided on the Department for Infrastructure and Transport’s Facebook (facebook.com/DFITSA) and Twitter (twitter.com/DFIT_SA) pages.

Latest local weather conditions are available from the Bureau of Metrology (www.bom.gov.au).

Quotes

Attributable to Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Tom Koutsantonis

Crews have been working hard to assess and re-open outback roads as quickly as possible, being mindful to ensure the safety of all road users and maintenance crews, and limit any further damage to the road surface.

The re-opening yesterday of a number of key routes to 4WDs is great news for local communities, as well as pastoralists and stranded travellers at William Creek who have now safely arrived in Coober Pedy.

Thank you to the local communities who have banded together this week to support those affected by the temporary closure of more than 30 unsealed outback roads following heavy rain over the long weekend.

We’re continuing to monitor the unsealed road network closely and are progressively opening roads to all vehicles as conditions improve.

Re-opening these roads is vital to helping our regional and outback communities get on with their lives, whether that means reconnecting families, accessing much-needed supplies or supporting tourism, mining and the livestock industry.