The five-kilometre road, which alternates between sealed and dirt surfaces, runs between the Olympic Highway and Holbrook Road just south of the city and has been used as a shortcut for many years.

Gavin King, who had long called for upgrades to the road, said he changed his tune when council started talking about closing it.

“It’s obvious they’re not going to spend money upgrading it, so they might as well close it,” Mr King said. “It’s a disaster waiting to happen, I’ve seen a fair bit of reckless driving. They just need to realise they can’t keep tipping maintenance money into something that will never be finished.”

Dunns Road resident Wayne Lennon even went so far as to create a petition to close the road, which was now being used “like a racetrack”.

“If common sense prevails, it would be closed tomorrow,” Mr Lennon said. “The traffic is a bigger problem than the road itself. It’s just too dangerous, no-one abides by the speed limits.”

On Monday night, Mr Lennon presented his petition to told councillors and told them even council trucks sped along the road.

“The road was closed and a council truck was doing in excess of 80km/h,” he said.

“I called council and the next time they went down they were considerably slower.”

Wagga City Council general manager Peter Thompson said council had looked into Mr Lennon’s claim and denied it had occurred.