KAROONDA East Murray mayor Kevin Burdett has joined the chorus of Mallee farmers and community members concerned about the impact of potential railway closures.
He said he fully expects the Tookyerta to Tailem Bend line to close after the current Viterra-Genesee & Wyoming Australia deal runs out.
"It's not worth it for anyone to spend the money to upgrade the railway, given how much money would need to be spent to get it up to modern standard," he said.
The Regional Development Australia commissioned rail freight report estimated closing the railway would result in an increase of four B-doubles a day travelling along the road.
"I think the seasonal increase around harvest time is likely to be much higher than what has been written in the report," he said.
"Because grain delivery and movement can be such a seasonal thing, I'd expect a real spike in the truck numbers during those critical months.
"The troubling thing is that this increase in truck traffic would come over summer, at a time where we already have increased traffic on the roads with lots of tourists and caravans coming through."
Kevin is concerned that the resulting increased truck traffic delivering grain to the Tailem Bend silo will degrade council roads and force maintenance budgets through the roof.
Grain trucks from the Karoonda district travel along the state government-managed Karoonda Highway, turning off at Kulde to join the road to Tailem Bend.
The 24 kilometre-long Kulde Road is managed by three councils - the District Council of Karoonda East Murray, the Rural City of Murray Bridge and the Coorong Council.
"I don't think any governments are going to be interested in handing out money to help deal with the extra wear and tear the roads are going to face," he said.