Cargo businesses losing out because of Cargo Road 'nightmare'

Cathy Brand runs the Cargo General Store which is located off the main street in the middle of town.

She said a combination of the pot-hole filled road, along with the relatively slow speed limit, is costing her at the till.

"We have people travelling through - who are having to go 80km/h - that say they prefer to go 100 towards Cudal," she said.

"They do like calling into our store, but it's just a better road the other way. You lose a bit of business that way."

As part of running the store, she regularly has to travel to Orange to fill up the shop.

Hundreds of hours travelling along a broken road will leave a sour taste in anyone's mouth.

"I hate it," she said.

"I dread driving to Orange, but that's where most of our businesses are to get our supplies. I would rather drive to Cowra, but for the business, we have to go to Orange."

Rodney Wilson lives on the main street of town and also operates a part-time tyre business.

But his experience with the road mainly comes through his main source of income as a truck driver.

"Being in a truck is just as rough as being in a car," he said of the experience driving in an out of Cargo.

He recalled it was in 2007 when the speed limit on Cargo Road changed in an effort to "prevent accidents".

But the lack of a permanent fix over the years continues to dampen the spirits of residents.

The latest insult comes via way of a sign just prior to the Lake Canobolas turn-off, which warns drivers heading out of Orange to reduce their speed because of road damage for the next 53km.

"It's easy to cover your arse by putting a sign up that says slow down. We've lived with it for so long now that it's just become routine," Mr Wilson said.

"I know there's a lot of other roads that were pretty badly damaged with the floods, but it's starting to become a bit long in the tooth."

He pointed to Hill End near Bathurst as a treasure trove of good roads to drive on.

"I don't understand why they can't do the same out here," he added.

Work was recently done to fix the section of Cargo Road near Coffee Hill Creek but Ms Brand noted, not long after, it started to break up once again.

"I always say that you can't wait for a really bad tragedy to happen before you repair the road," she said.

"You get people travelling from Canberra or the South Coast saying 'geez, this road'. I'll tell them to be careful if they are travelling to Orange because it is quite rough."

During a visit to Orange in April. Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, Jenny Aitchison laid out Labor's roads policies and reiterated an additional $390 million of funding on top of the coalition's $280 million regional pothole fund.

Asked what was currently being done to fix Cargo Road, Ms Aitchison said well-functioning road and public transport networks are vital to "ensuring our communities thrive".

She added Cabonne Council has had almost $8 million directly injected into its coffers to enable repair work to begin on its extensive network of roads across the shire.

There are a number of other road funds that can also be accessed to help improve roads like the Cargo Road, she said, including the $543 million Fixing Country Roads program, which is designed to upgrade roads and bridges to facilitate the movement of freight to key freight hubs and state roads.

However, Ms Aitchison said there have been no applications made for Cargo Road by Cabonne Shire Council under this program.

"The NSW Government is committed to making the network more resilient in the face of natural disasters and to building back better when necessary. The NSW Government provides funding for councils to fix the local and regional roads our communities use every day," she said.

In September, 2022, Cabonne major Kevin Beatty indicated he would be writing to both levels of government to help facilitate the repair of the Cargo Road.