Residents have vented their frustrations about an upgraded section of road “peeling away” and riddled with potholes.
North Arm resident Jake Hazzard said he was stunned to see a freshly widened and resealed stretch of North Arm Yandina Creek Road falling apart, prompting reparations.
“What an absolute disaster,” he said via a Yandina community Facebook page.
“While the sections to the east and west were upgraded over the last couple of years to a decent standard, this final piece of that puzzle is an epic flop.”
He said he counted 40 potholes in the new surface.
“If this was anywhere closer to Coolum Beach, Bli Bli or even Peregian Springs, there is no way the council would get away with this quality of work,” he said.
“But in the more rural areas, us residents get to put up with Third World road standards, seemingly indefinitely.
“Is this how council gets to spend the hard-earned dollars of ratepayers and state government subsidies?”
A council spokesperson detailed the improvements that have been made along North Arm Yandina Creek Road and said works were ongoing.
They said sections were sealed in 2017 and 2024 and multiple Disaster Recovery projects were completed in 2023 and 2024.
“The current project widens the narrow-sealed section,” they said.
“This project and all previously completed projects aim to upgrade the road to current standards and provide consistency throughout the corridor by addressing the road safety risk. The total investment in these projects to date is approximately $7.9 million.”
The spokesperson could not say for sure why the newly-sealed central section had “surface failures” but wet weather could have been a major factor.
“Council’s civil construction teams are actively investigating recent issues observed on-site to better understand the contributing factors,” they said.
“While the exact cause is to be confirmed, recent heavy rainfall across the region prior to sealing is likely to have played a role in the observed surface failures.”
Mr Hazzard said parts of the renewed central section, which is about 1.5km long, were breaking up almost immediately after work was done.
“It blew my mind to drive through and watch them (road workers) removing all the site sheds and packing down and yet there were already potholes well formed at that stage,” he said.
“It’s like they forgot to lay the final layers of bitumen and ran away hoping no one would notice.”
He asked Sunshine Coast Council to conduct prompt reparations.
“To their credit, they have been out and patched most of the new potholes in our new road,” he told Sunshine Coast News.
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Mr Hazzard, who travels the road to work at Coolum Beach, said he was prompted to speak out about the road after waiting a long time for improvements.
“I have been using it (North Arm Yandina Road) for 25 years and counting down the days until these three sections were finally sealed and safe,” he said.
He also said the far eastern gravel section of the road “is very low lying, unstable and gets very unsafe with corrugations and really big dangerous potholes”.
He said it should be sealed but there was confusion about who was responsible for it: the council or the owner of a nearby quarry.
Mr Hazzard said rural roads in the region were largely ignored.
“Having grown up and lived mostly in rural areas of the Sunshine Coast, I am always praying that, one day, dirt roads will get sealed and made double lane but … council prioritises those areas with higher traffic and areas of high tourist use,” he said.
“I think council and the state need to put more resources into upgrading our rural road network, particularly since COVID and the massive influx of new residents.
“It really gets frustrating when you see a perfectly adequate piece of infrastructure getting upgraded along the coast. Meanwhile, we are still forced to drive along third world quality roads for our daily commute.”
Other locals expressed their frustrations with the works on North Arm Yandina Creek Road, via social media.
“I drive this stretch of road four days a week and cannot believe that even before they (road workers) packed up and left there were potholes and uneven patches on the road,” Stefan Pokitko said. “This stretch of road is an absolute disgrace.”
“It’s an absolute mess,” Holly Meyer added.
“Absolutely disgusting. Would have been better left dirt,” Laura O’Connor said.
“We all understand pumping sand on to Maroochydore Beach is more important than our roads,” Mick Beveridge said.
The council spokesperson said the stretch should be in better shape by the end of the year.
“This project is still in progress. The affected section will be repaired, followed by the application of the final pavement seal, permanent line marking and raised retroreflective pavement markers,” they said.
“Final sealing works are scheduled for late 2025, to be completed by council’s civil construction team, with finishing works to follow, weather permitting.”
They said roadworks in the region were done where they were needed most.
“Council’s road network spans 3137km and is maintained and monitored by council crews and contractors.”
“The council-managed roads in our region are prioritised using a range of criteria. We prioritise road maintenance on a number of factors including, and not limited to, traffic volumes, how serious the damage is, the urgency of other competing priorities and available funds and resources.”
The council was asked who was responsible for the dirt section of North Arm Yandina Creek road and adjoining Toolborough Road but did not provide a direct response.
The aerial imagery in this story is from Australian location intelligence company Nearmap. The company provides government organisations, architectural, construction and engineering firms, and other companies, with easy, instant access to high-resolution aerial imagery, city-scale 3D content, artificial intelligence data sets, and geospatial tools to assist with urban planning, monitoring and development projects in Australia, New Zealand and North America.
