THOUSANDS of people face lengthy detours – likely to remain in place for months – when a stretch of Bookpurnong Road that links Loxton and Berri is closed in the coming days.

An SA government department has deemed that “for the safety of the community” Bookpurnong Road from the Berri Bridge roundabout to Kemp Road will be inaccessible to all traffic, due to the rising River Murray flows.

Signage will be installed to advise road users of the detour route, which will be via Stanitzki Road to Sturt Highway, through Paringa and Renmark and onto Old Sturt Highway, Berri.

The Murray Pioneer understands the Department of Infrastructure and Transport (DIT) has a 120GL per day tipping point for enforcing the road closure, with the figure reaching 101GL today.

“While this detour will add significant travel time for locals, the closure of Bookpurnong Road is required for the safety of the community,” the department said in a statement this morning.

“The department will keep roads open as long as safely possible, however other roads are likely to close in the coming weeks, including ferry access roads, as water levels continue to rise.

“The department currently has work crews in the region preparing for potential road closures and detours.

“These crews will continue to undertake frequent road inspections to ensure that as much advance notice as possible can be provided for any road closures. Road closure and detour signage will be deployed to any affected roads to keep all road users safe as water levels rise.”

Currently, all River Murray ferries remain open, however the department warned it is “closely monitoring” the impacts of the high-water flows across all 11 ferry crossings.

“The Waikerie ferry crossing will be the first to be impacted, with the lower landing unable to operate when the river depth exceeds 9.2 metres – which is expected to occur within the next week,” the department said.

“Works have been completed to install landing infrastructure and clear vegetation to ensure the Waikerie ferry is ready for service at the high flow ramp once water levels reach 9.6 metres.

“There will be a short period where no ferry service can operate at Waikerie, while the ferry is moved from the lower to the higher landing. This changeover may take up to two to three days, however every effort will be made to reduce this timeframe.”