Recent resurfacing work of a popular cycle route, Humevale Rd, in Whittlesea has caused outrage in the cycling community. April 2012 saw the road resurfaced with approx 1.5cm of loose gravel, as part of the 2009 Bushfire damage project. The road is now dangerous for descending, whilst those ascending the road are getting their wheels stuck in the loose gravel. Many seasoned and new cyclists to the area are avoiding the road, and using the alternative Whittlesea-Yea Rd.
According to a local Project Engineer, normal resurfacing work on low-use roads involves the emulsion technique, which involves spraying on the emulsion over the existing road surface, laying over and grading a fine aggregate, leaving it for a few days for traffic to embed it together, followed by a rubber tracked roller compacting it in. Then they use a road sweeper to get rid of the excess. However in this instance on Humevale Rd, the emulsion method was not used, but rather a fine layer of gravel applied.
The road is not suitable for heavier vehicles, signposts state that over 22 tonne heavy load vehicles are to use the Whittlesea-Yea Rd instead. Humevale Rd does not have many residents on the resurfaced section, so it would be years before the loose gravel was embedded down. Whittlesea Council have been contacted, but still no word from the Council regarding their reasoning behind the resurface method used.
Humevale Rd is a popular climbing and descending route for cyclists, as it involves a quiet road with very low traffic usage, making it the safest route rather than the alternative of the Whittlesea-Yea Rd with its high volume of traffic. Coburg Cycling Club use this road as part of their Race Series. Whittlesea Council Tourism Dept. is also launching a cycling campaign in June, which highlights the best roads to ride on in Whittlesea including Humevale Rd. The spokesperson for Tourism is also seeking answers as to why the road was resurfaced the way it was.
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