Motorists caught in a sticky situation

FORGET cyclone Olga and her supposed fury - in many ways, a road project gone wrong proved to be the more damaging disaster of the weekend.

A string of motorists using Redlynch Intake Rd unwittingly drove into a sticky trap on Saturday, with newly-laid bitumen coating tyres and the undersides of cars instead of the street surface.

Tow-truck companies were kept busy for much of the afternoon as about 20 cars were forced off the road, just a couple of hours after traffic lights were switched on and the upgraded Michelangelo Drive intersection was opened.

The problem was blamed on workers laying bitumen in wet weather in their rush to finish the job before students went back to school.

Among those affected were the Cardillo family, heading to Mareeba to visit relatives.

"The car started shaking really badly and then we saw there were a heap of cars pulled over on the side of the road," Frank Cardillo said.

He said bitumen covered the driver’s side tyres and flicked up onto the underside of the car, forcing the family to abandon their trip and spend three hours waiting for the car to be towed.

"They (tow truck drivers) were just taking someone and coming back to get the next person," he said.

Jeff McKeown managed to drive his Mazda Bravo ute home to Mareeba after changing two tar-covered tyres.

"It just rolled up around the wheels, in some places 4cm, in some places 2cm, and it just made it undriveable.

"The mud flaps are destroyed, there’s tar up the side of the mudguards and also all underneath."

Dale Allaway spent three hours using kerosene trying to clean tar off his car.

"It was all over the inner-guard, all over the suspension strap and the brake calliper," he said.

"I think I got most of it off – about a four litre ice cream tub’s worth.

"It’s just the wheels that are the problem now."

The roadworks were part of a $3.7 million Cairns Regional Council project to improve safety along the busy road.

Council acting infrastructure services general manager, Ross McKim, conceded there were problems with how the job was done.

"We’ve been busily trying to get that done before St Andrew’s (Catholic College) opens on Wednesday, so they’ve been working weekends and in the rain," he said

"As a result they’ve been laying bitumen in conditions that probably aren’t really good for it.

"In some of those sections where the bitumen has been laid down, it hasn’t bonded (with the road)."

Mr McKim said affected drivers should contact the council to discuss compensation.