AMount Gambier resident has been compensated after her car sustained damage from a large pothole a month after road upgrades were completed.


Kristae Davis accrued nearly $250 worth of damage when she hit a pothole on the Princes Highway around 100 metres from the intersection of The Springs and Burrungle roads last month.


Ms Davis was left stranded on the side of the road with a punctured tyre and damaged wheel after clipping the road hazard.


Asphalt pavement works were undertaken in mid to late September at the intersection as part of the $90m Princes Highway upgrades.


Ms Davis said she contacted road contractors Acciona and Fulton Hogan and the Department of Transport numerous times, with all companies referring her back and forth to one another.


“The thing that gets me is this backwards and forwards – and that was why I had enough. I rang Tony Pasin, Troy Bell and Nick McBride and … they are actually going to write a letter to the Transport Minister about it,” she said.


This week Ms Davis was contacted by a Department for Infrastructure and Transport spokesperson, who was apologetic about the situation.


“They said it should have never happened in the first place and that he spoke to the managers at both companies and it should not happen again,” Ms Davies said.


The Department for Infrastructure and Transport spokesperson said typically the department’s maintenance contractors are responsible for handling claims for damages.


“If damage has occurred in a work zone, the project contractor is responsible for handling those claims,” the spokesperson said.


“The pothole identified on the Princes Highway near The Springs Road and Burrungle Road intersection is unrelated to the Princes Highway upgrade and the subsequent defect remediation works.


“In this instance, we have been in contact with Ms Davis to address her claim.


“The department continues to closely monitor the road network in the interests of road safety, with road maintenance staff conducting regular inspections to identify issues and undertake repairs.


“Our maintenance contractor has received six road related enquiries within the South East this financial year.”


Ms Davis said the pothole was an estimated three metres in length and issued a warning to road users this school holiday.


“Coming into school holidays, we get a lot of travellers and a lot of tourists in this area. Just making people aware to drive that little bit safer so they do not damage their vehicles with bad roads that we do have,” she said.


Ms Davis said efforts to fix the hole had been made around three weeks ago, but it was starting to deteriorate again.


“It was miraculously repaired two weeks after I complained about it and now since we had that rain last week it is deteriorating again within weeks,” she said.


“They have obviously tried to fix it because I have the photos to prove it and they just kept filling it with gravel.


“It’s ridiculous. We have to have roadworthy cars, why cannot we have roadworthy roads?


“I actually tried to swerve and miss (the pothole), because I actually drive that road quite often and I noticed it over a period just getting bigger and bigger and bigger.


“Why is it (the government is employed) to do our roads and fix our roads and our tax paying dollars are going to these roads when they’re not being properly sourced out and maintained.


“It’s the principle that I pay my taxes, I expect the roads to be in drivable condition and when something does go wrong someone is responsible.”


Infrastructure and Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis blamed the previous Liberal Government for the condition of the road.


“It’s clear the former Marshall government’s determination to outsource has led to many poor outcomes,” he said.


“This has been particularly evident in the South East with the road maintenance contract signed with Fulton Hogan.


“Not only has the privatisation of our maintenance arrangements led to poorer delivery, it saw the road maintenance backlog blow out dramatically, leaving the incoming Labor Government to manage a near $2b legacy.


“The State Government is considering all our options to rectify this situation.”


Acciona and Fulton Hogan were contacted for comment.