Opening of Bogong High Plains Road will see ski season go ahead at Falls Creek

Following a six-month closure due to a landslide, the Bogong High Plains Road from Mount Beauty to Falls Creek is set to reopen by 25th April meaning visitors and residents will be able to access the resort for 2023 ski season.

Residents were evacuated in October after the slow-moving landslide forced the road's closure and cut access to the Falls Creek ski village.

However, Major Road Projects Victoria has announced that one lane of the road will be open to all traffic by Anzac Day, with construction to continuing for the road to be fully open.

A traffic management system will be introduced while just one lane is open so tourists will need to factor delays into their travel time.

Guaranteeing there will be visitor and resident access for the snow season, Project Director Dipal Sorathia stated "machines are now working seven days a week and can traverse through the landscape at the bottom, which means our productivity has increased.”

The road reopening is subject to weather conditions but Sorathia says enough time has been allowed for potential delays so that the snow season is not impacted, adding “if the weather does hinder us, and we get rain for three or four days back to back, and if it does move by a day or two, we are still well within our comfort zone.

"That gives the community comfort, the ski season is still going to proceed."

Advising that residents are thrilled to finally have a date locked in and to be able to provide that assurance to guests, Falls Creek Resort General Manager, Kate Moegel stated "it's well ahead of the winter season so it gives us plenty of time for preseason preparation.

After six months with no road access, Moegel says a good snow season will help operators but won't balance the books for many.

She added “this will take us at least two years to recover from. Having no support, we have been haemorrhaging.

"The good winter will be just the beginning of our recovery."

During the closure, the Falls Creek Chamber of Commerce estimates businesses have lost up to $90 million in summer revenue while others have lost winter bookings as a result of being unable to guarantee that the road would be open by the beginning of the ski season.

Lisa Logan from Falls Creek Chamber of Commerce stated "it's a devastating blow, particularly after losing business to bushfires and then COVID impacting two winters.

"It just puts you right behind the eight ball."

With future landslides likely, Major Road Projects Victoria will continue working at the site to develop a permanent solution.

Images: 50,000 cubic meters of earth was displaced through last October's landslip on the Bogong High Plains Road (top, credit: Major Road Projects Victoria) and one lane will be open with traffic management in place from April (below, credit: Emergency Management Victoria).