A lot has changed in the last 2000 years, but the importance of roads has not. When vast distances need to be covered quickly, to defend and maintain and support the landscape that has been shaped into a community's home, a rough, winding track has nothing on smooth tarmac.

And yet a major rural road that connects the ACT with the Snowy Mountains, running deep into the Namadgi National Park south from Tharwa, has been left to decay.

The Boboyan Road, which becomes Bobeyan Road in New South Wales and connects the territory's southern edge with Adaminaby, is a crucial piece of infrastructure in accessing the southern expanse of the ACT and fighting bushfires.

Although the ACT Rural Fire Service says the road's condition - which presently forces even the sturdiest and best equipped vehicles to travel slowly - does not reduce its ability to fight fires in the area.

But why take the chance?

The coronial inquest into the 2003 bushfires, which destroyed more than 400 homes and killed four people in one of Canberra's darkest periods, was critical of the condition of access roads.

Coroner Maria Doogan recommended there be an ongoing program "to ensure that at all times forestry and other access roads are kept clear and are accessible to emergency personnel and vehicles".

The people who know the ACT's rural roads best, those who have driven them for decades, have warned the condition of Boboyan Road would severely limit access to emergency services.

Of course maintaining the ACT's roads and fire trails is a difficult and expensive job, but it should not take the tragedy of someone dying waiting for a bogged ambulance to spur action.

However, it is not just emergencies and bushfire defence that call for quality roads.

The rich natural beauty and heritage of the ACT makes it a prime candidate for increased domestic tourism as post-Covid confidence leads more people to take holidays. But the territory's riches will be locked off and kept inaccessible if most people are unable to drive in to see them.

The NSW government has committed $20 million to sealing their side of the road, touting the improvement as a key that will unlock greater economic activity in the Snowy Mountains region.

The ACT would be wise to follow this lead, offering an important and far safer connection to Canberra's south. The cost of leaving the road to get worse will be far greater and risks avoidable tragedy.

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