Tucked away not far off a thin stretch of asphalt in the Blue Mountains are three small communities with a combined population of around 350 people.
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These localities hug Chifley Road, surrounded by ancient, towering mountains, layered in thick, dense bushland.
Life in Clarence, Bell and Dargan is usually quiet.
But right now, residents of these three villages are living a nightmare.
With the Great Western Highway closed at Mitchell's Causeway since March, approximately 12,000 extra vehicles per day, including large freight trucks, are now using the Darling Causeway/Chifley Road detour.
The road is crumbling, but it's also bringing out the worst in drivers.
"We never know if we're going to be able to get into town [Lithgow] or home again," Clarence resident Cathy MacNamara said.
"And Lithgow is experiencing such a huge impact from the increased traffic also."
"Many local parents have expressed their concern that each time the road closes they don't know if they're going to be able to get into town to pick up their children from school. People can't get to appointments or go shopping.
"It's actually isolating people within the community, particularly our older residents, who now don't like driving on that road because the aggressive behaviour of many drivers are making the road so scary and so dangerous."
"With the Bathurst 1000 and long weekend coming up, nobody's planning on going anywhere. Many residents are just going to be staying home because they wish to avoid being caught in the hours of delays and accidents which have been evident on every previous busy weekend since the closure of the Great Western Highway."
Ms MacNamara said she and her fellow residents were living in fear of the next accident being a friend a family member, friend or neighbour.
"We're also all worried that when there is a fatality - and we're relieved there hasn't yet been one - that the road isgoing to be closed for eight hours or more for an investigation. What happens then?"
"The Association of Bell, Clarence & Dargan (ABCD Inc) is our local community group, and has had the opportunity to meet regularly with Transport NSW and other local community groups to raise specific concerns of residents and Transport NSW have been working to address some of the safety concerns on the detour. But there is only so much they can do."
Karen Jones, of the ABCD Inc, said the situation for residents is "mentally exhausting".
"We know that we've got another 12 months or less if we're lucky, but it's just whether there's not going to be a fatality in that time," she said.
"I think the biggest thing is the fear that there's going to be an accident. If it's not going to be you, it could be a friend or a neighbour.
"It's mentally exhausting for the residents here."
Volunteers copping abuse
Susan Alexander, a volunteer with the Clarence/Dargan RFS, said she's received reports of fellow firefighters copping abuse from impatient motorists.
"On the Anzac Day weekend, one of our people was driving the big red truck to the Clarence Dargan shed. He put his indicator on to turn into the shed and the car behind him blew his horn," she said.
"When did we become those people? When is it okay to beep a volunteer on a public holiday, who has spent time getting that road open?
"Those sort of things are just frustrating."
Ms Alexander said her family all have dash cams on their vehicles, because of the number of incidents they've witnessed on the roads.
"Every single community member I've spoken to has had multiple near misses, people up their backsides, being honked at. It's just rude," she said.
"My daughter and her partner were coming home and turning in and there was a truck right up behind them with its lights flashing. Why is it we can't turn into our street?
"I don't know when we became such bad drivers."
Transport for NSW says it is using extra field resources on the Darling Causeway including heavy and light tows, pilots operating drones and additional mobile CCTV units to monitor incidents.
"Traffic control crews are situated along the detour route at strategic locations," the spokesperson said.
"These additional resources complement our 24/7 on-ground presence, helping traffic move through key locations including Mount Victoria, Bell and Lithgow.
"Transport works with emergency services to manage access for emergency service vehicles at all times. There are a number of diversion routes available for use in response to incidents along the detour routes."
Shocking week on roads
In the space of a week, there were three motor vehicle crashes that caused the temporary closure of the Darling Causeway.
It meant any westbound traffic on the Great Western Highway had to either wait or turn back, while those on the Chifley Road had to either use the Bells Line of Road or wait too.
These crashes occurred on August 6, 11 and 13, and all involved a truck and a car.
Kara Cooper, of Mount Vic and Me, took to social media on Thursday, following the third closure of the Darling Causeway in just over a week, to share her concerns.
Located on the Great Western Highway, just before the turnoff to the bypass, she's seen first-hand how the traffic has been halted.
"It's really distressing," she said.
"There's been constant sirens, Police Rescue, ambulance all going through.
"Please be careful on the roads. There's some really crazy behaviour with people."
The Centre for Road Safety has recorded seven crashes on the Chifley Road/Darling Causeway detour route between Sunday, March 8, and Thursday, August 13.
These crashes have resulted in eight injuries and no fatalities.
While only seven crashes have been recorded, the recent crashes may not yet reflect the Centre for Road Safety data.
The data only reflects crashes recorded by the NSW Police Force in which at least one person was killed or injured, or in which at least one motor vehicle was towed away.
The Traffic Management Centre has recorded 11 full road closures in both directions of the Darling Causeway and Chifley Road since the full closure of Victoria Pass on Sunday, March 8, ranging from a few minutes to protracted closures.
Construction at the Great Western Highway at Victoria Pass has seen the removal of up to two metres in depth of the existing asphalt surface and weight trials successfully completed on temporary smaller piles that will support the platform, which is required for the rig and other heavy machinery.
Site sheds have also been installed, and supporting works have been completed for plumbing, electrical, and IT crews.
